Community Safety Strategies - Essay Example

Community Fire Safety: Strategies for Reducing Injuries and Fatalities in High Rise, Multi-Occupancy Dwellings Fire safety in multi-family buildingsis a difficult task to ensure. Fire safety in multi unit buildings housing migrants is an even more difficult task. Many or most would not speak English. Therefore communication in case of emergency would be difficult at best, precarious for certain. This and other obstacles to safety within the buildings would have to include the attitude of residents themselves, many from third world countries who do not have the same sense of safety that a resident of the U.K may have regarding fire hazards and protective methods. Plans for fire safety then must be customized to suit not only the building residents but also the height of the buildings and sheer numbers of people living there. This report addresses these needs and lays out the problems and fire safety regulations that must be considered when developing a fire safety strategy. Community Safety Theory Quoting the Chief Fire Officer’s Association (2008) “We welcome... guidance which helps to manage the relationship between the Housing Act 2004 and the Fire Safety Order by offering advice and assistance to enforcers, landlords, managing agents and tenants, amongst others, on ways to make residential buildings safe from fire, regardless of which piece of legislation is relevant. When it comes to fire safety, everyone involved has an interest. A necessary element in understanding what is presented in this report lies in an understanding of the theory of community safety, how and what it is intended to achieve. Elsworth et al put it succinctly in their program theory approach to communities living with the threat of fire. “A theory of the way a program works... provides the starting point for planning evaluations in a wide variety of fields... The focus is on strategies that produce desired positive outcomes” (Elsworth et al, 2008: para. 1-2). At the core of any fire safety programme are agencies, institutions, individuals, families and the community itself working in partnership toward the desired outcome of community fire safety. The programme itself, developed from current literature, succinct goals, objectives and strategies, and intimate interaction between all participants produces a theory of change that gives good results. (Elsworth et al, 2008). In our particular case any programme theory of community fire safety must include a long list of participants: migrant individuals and their families, educational institutions, local utilities and fire fighting agencies, local officials, and to a great extent, the entire community in which high rise structures peopled by migrants exist. All important to success are certainly leaders within the migrant community. Because of their closeness to and influence within the community these leaders who can convince residents to abandon dangerous practices brought with them from their countries of origin. Strategy: Risk Management Plan Primary to any community safety program is the identification of at-risk groups, which, for our purposes will be migrant residents in high rise buildings, and based on that the development of a risk management action plan. For the Fire and Rescue Service, the process of risk management is about the identification of ‘risk’ to the community and the subsequent steps that are taken to eliminate or reduce that risk” (Murphy, 2007: 1). As with any plan of attack dealing with a specific problem the action plan must do several things. It must: identify existing and potential risks to the community; evaluate the effectiveness of current preventative and response arrangements; identify opportunities for improvement; determine policies and standards for prevention and intervention, and assess resource requirements to meet these policies and standards. Education as Key Within the risk management structure, particularly in the case of migrant communities, a concerted effort must be made to bring the occupants of buildings into the community safety standards family. As stated above, this is often difficult, because entrenched ideas about safety and its importance (or lack of it) are imported to the UK and to the dwellings occupied. Any Risk Management plan then should include the appointment of a Community Safety Advocate to support other partners and personnel within local communities on a grass roots level. Other grass roots action may also include some form of Community Response Unit comprised of professionals and local migrant leaders who visit homes and offer advise. (Murphy, 2007). The inclusion in this group may include members of utilities agencies and fire fighting professionals who, when accompanied by local leaders, gain a great deal of credibility when it comes to re-educating migrants in the practices of fire safety. Employers also play an important role in the safety education process. Murphy (2007) points out that The European Structural Funding currently provides funds to allow communities to employ bi-lingual Community Safety Advocates who work primarily with migrant workers and their employers. Along with identifying vulnerable groups, offering fire safety presentations in the workplace and at home are integral to the plan, along with classes that promote fire safety checks at home. In any case, this dual layer of safety reinforcement at home and at work allows workers to share what they have learned with their families at home. Enhancing the educational element, Murphy (2007) suggests that new and meaningful educational partnerships should be formed with Citizens Actions Groups and bi-lingual education services that supply language assistants in the absence of migrant helpers. It should also be noted that migrant language helpers themselves may not always interpret information correctly, and information may be incorrectly passed on. As Tribal Consulting (2008) found, “Language difficulties and translation services appeared to be a common issue. As a result, some migrant worker tenants and GHA housing applicants may not be fully aware of their rights and responsibilities” (5). Thus, important information passed on to those who occupy dwellings may or may not be clear. Unlawful and improper sharing of and dangerous consequences electrical utilities, the cause of many fires in multi family dwellings, must be explained clearly. Aside from official agencies, new associations should be formed with voluntary groups such as Home Start and Families First initiatives to further saturate the migrant community with important safety information. Another important group that must be targeted is the children of migrants. Working in partnership with children, teachers and administrative personnel, educational programs can be made part of the curriculum, thus reinforcing a fire safety message children can share with the adults in their home. From the youngest on through teen years, programs from puppet shows to visits by fire safety personnel will enhance the message—one children bring home to adults living in their homes. Accidental Fires and Overcrowding: Enforcement and Prevention Concerns are ongoing from public agencies regarding in relation to poor unsafe housing conditions, including overcrowding, exploitation by landlords and unconfirmed reports of people sleeping in shifts to maximise accommodation. “A growing number of immigrants are living in dangerously overcrowded housing, creating the risk of a major fire disaster” (Westhead, 2008: para. 1). As such one group may be more aware of fire hazards than others; strangers may practice unsafe habits; overloading of utilities may occur. It is the responsibility of the utility company to monitor electric usage, determine overloads if they occur and confront landlords regarding abuse of codes connected with overcrowding. Electrical inspections should be mandatory on a regular basis and landlords fined for non-compliance. As many migrant workers have little earning capacity and, not yet entitled to decent social housing, end up living in the poorest of poor quality multi-occupation private housing or HMOs which are largely unlicensed. (Westhead, 2008) The market has become a growing cash cow for landlords who ignore regulations concerning overcrowding which often leads to conditions ripe for cooking flash fires, smoking related fires, and a general ignorance of fire prevention methods. It might be suggested a part of any fire guidelines that local officials must cooperate with local officials to enforce rules of overcrowding as a starting place for fire prevention. Guidelines should include a mandatory reporting on the part of landlords as to who is living in their housing, the ages of the occupants and location of sleeping quarters. Such units must be subject to flash inspections by utilities and code officers with violations noted and shared with fire services. Some communities have already begun monitoring this situation as reported by Westhead (2008). One building they found was occupied by at least twelve Slovak farm workers squeezed into a small space containing one fire escape blocked by a mattress. The property was shut down but fire officials insist they are being overwhelmed with the number of such properties cropping up. Mr. Bezant issued a prohibition notice to the landlord, closing down the property. “A spokesperson for the Department of Communities and Local Government said it was working with local authorities, and fire and rescue services, to raise fire safety awareness among migrant communities” (Westhead, 2008: para. 28). The danger in situations combined with a lack of knowledge about who to contact and how to contact them in case of fire creates obvious dangerous safety hazards. In these cases both code officials and fire services must be part of the management plan. While code officials must be responsible for monitoring overcrowded conditions, fire service agencies must accept that the condition may exist and proceed in that vane. This discussion of situations involving accidental fires, while approachable through educational programs and monitoring by appropriate authorities, leads us to another issue which over the past several years has become a concern in the UK—fire raising. Fire Raising in Migrant Housing: A Complex Psychological and Social Issue Any discussion of fire raising requires insights into the“...sheer complexity of fire raising as something that is adopted by a whole range of distressed, dissatisfied or just plain disagreeable people” (Prins, 1994: vi). Many if not most migrants who come to the UK arrive with families. Many of family members are represented by adolescents who, for a variety of psychological reasons, exhibit behavioural problems and anti social behaviour that lead to fire raising in multi family migrant housing. As Prins found, “An incident of...burning with one disaffected pupil [teen] acting out resentment at the cost of millions of pounds makes the point. It is in all our interests to have a better understanding of behaviour which can have such ravaging consequences” (Prins, 1994: vii). In the case of children of migrants, one only has to look at the alienation suffered by most migrants and their families to understand the correlation between the isolation of the migrant community and fire raising as a means of expressing anger and resentment. The fact, however, presents a huge community safety issue that must be addressed not only by local authorities, but by social agencies and the community itself. In keeping with the multi agency risk management plan, the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI ) keeps nineteen representatives in the UK. There chapter itself has 500 members representing a wide range of interests including the “fire service, insurance industry, law enforcement, forensic scientists, private fire investigators, fire investigation training providers and forensic science academic establishments” (Powley, 2006: para. 6). One of the agency’s focus is preventing insurance fraud. Powley (2006) reports “Insurer Axa recently estimated that arson fires account for £4 of every £10 of crime-related business claims, and the Arson Prevention Bureau reports that it costs the economy £53.8m each week in England and Wales” (para. 2). However, as one of its many arms includes sophisticated investigative tools, the agency also provides information on issues such as fire raising in multi-family dwellings often related to juveniles. Securing a good information-sharing relationship with the IAAI and its members assuredly provide invaluable insights to local fire services into how the fires are set and how life and limb can be spared when fire raising is suspected. No doubt fire raising, especially among children, begins early on. Prinz found studies that suggest that “backgrounds [of child fire setters] seemed to be characterised by parental criminality, poor supervision and harsh or inconsistent discipline with considerable family discord or disruption” (77). It would then suggest that fire services using social services to sort out which children of migrants may be susceptible to such behavior makes sense. As Prins (1994) suggests early intervention is of the essence in formulating preventative measures. Racially motivated arson, as has been reported in certain areas, is certainly a criminal issue and must be dealt with in cooperation between fire service and local law enforcement. Report Summary Clearly then from the information presented the strategy or approach that must be taken to prevent fires and thereby reduce the incidence of fatalities and injuries is many faceted and requires a unique collaboration between many departments and agencies. The migrant issue is one that certainly requires the intervention of social agencies whose charge it is to ensure adequate socialization of migrant populations into the society as a whole. In conjunction with these efforts, educational programme sponsored by a variety of interested parties must be in place and available to migrant populations whose sense of danger and urgency regarding fire prevention and safety measures might be severely lacking. Law enforcement against landlords who refuse to adhere to fire codes of safety must be on spot and severe. If, as many say ,monitoring manpower is lacking it is up to local governments with the help of regional agencies to hire and train enforcement agents to get the job done. Another factor which we have not discussed involves the makeup of fire fighting services. Whitehall Pages (2009) writes It is right that the Fire and Rescue Service as a local employer has a workforce which is reflective of the local population. This helps to increase the understanding and connection with all sections of the community and makes the service more effective in its work on fire safety and prevention. Everyone should feel able to apply to be a firefighter. Some groups need to be encouraged to apply and that is why projects that create greater awareness of career opportunities among under represented groups are to be encouraged (Whitehall Pages, 2009: para. 4-5) A feeling of personal ownership of he services designed to protect them will no doubt reduce the number of fires, fatalities and injuries as more migrants participate in the programmes and provide positive feedback to others regarding what to do and what not to do to prevent fire and secure their living quarters from its threat. In conclusion, fire services and related services would do best to follow the all inclusive Lacors sponsored guidelines (2008) layed out in its document of recommendations for community safety to The Fire Chiefs of Fire Officers Association. The document, rather lengthy, covers all aspects of preserving community safety in the social, educational and legal realms. The document, in total, presents a strategy that is both detailed and doable, if all agencies and organizations work together toward the goal of limiting and eradicating injuries and deaths from fire in multi-family dwellings. “Fire safety is an issue that must be addressed and if it means that the government are going to have to put more money [and resources] into this area, then so be it!” (Butt, 2010: 6). Bibliography Butt, J. (2010) ‘Fire Safety Awareness Among Migrant Communities,’ Bo-Knows.com Online, 16, June 2010. http://www.bo-knows.com/Article/Fire-Safety- Awareness-Amongst-Migrant-Communities/447 Elsworth, G., Gilbert, J. Rhodes, A. Goodman, H. and Rowe, C. (2008). ‘Project C7- Bushfire CR’, Online at Bushfire CRC at: http://www.bushfirecrc.com/publications/C_Gilbert.pdf Murphy, B.A. (2007) The Highland and Islands Fire Board Integrated Risk Management Draft Action Plan 2008-2009. http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6780413D-E15F-4337-B3E4- 1C02CE47F194/0/Item8Fire4607.pdf Powley, T. (2006). ‘Insurance Fraud Bureau to Tackle Arson alongside UK Fire Service. Post Magazine, 15 December, 2006. http://www.firerescue1.com/fire- news/244820-insurance-fraud-bureau-to-tackle-arson-alongside-uk-fire-service/ Prins, H. (1994) Fire-Raising: Its Motivation and Management. London: Routledge. The Chief of Fire Officers Association. (August, 2008) ‘Housing—Fire Safety’. West Sussex: Lacors. http://www.xact.org.uk/information/downloads/FRA/LACORS_HMO.pdf Tribal Consulting for GHA. (June 2008). ‘Housing Migrant Workers: The Impact on GHA’. http://www.gha.org.uk/content/mediaassets/doc/Housing_Migrant_Workers1.pdf Westhead, J. (2008). ‘Fire Risk for Crowded Migrants’. BBC News Online, Updated 19 February, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7253678.stm Whitehall Pages. (2009). ‘(CLG) Fire Service Work with Migrants Praised in Awards’. Posted online: 13 May, 2009) http://www.whitehallpages.net/news/archive/196226 Read More