How do we perform?

In the year 2009/10, the Service Delivery (Protection) Department of Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (formerly known as the Technical Fire Safety Department) has continued to maintain it's commitment to enforcing the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and has again increased the volume of audits completed over previous years.

The department has achieved, and in many cases beaten, it’s targets set for key areas of operation (see below) and has received consistently high approval from recipients of the audit process who responded to customer surveys.

The following figures are in relation to premises covered by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Order) for the year 2009/10 and do not include incidents of fires in premises comprising single private domestic dwellings.

Fatalities:

There have been no fatalities in premises subject to the Order during this year. This is consistent with the zero rate achieved since 2005 and will continue to be an aspiration of Wiltshire FRS and a key target for this department.

Fire Injuries:

The overall level of fire injury in premises subject to the Order remains low and has dropped to 4 injuries during the year. The target is to continually improve this figure year on year with the ultimate aim of reducing the figure to zero. The graph below indicates the continuing trend of reducing fire related injuries since the introduction of the Order.

Building Regulations Consultations:

New premises subject to the Order, or those undergoing alterations, are subject to Building Control Regulations and are required to apply for the necessary approvals. The Building Control Bodies have a duty to consult on such applications with the Fire Authority. It is the target of the department to respond to 95% of such consultations within 15 working days. In the year 2009/10, this figure was 96.32%.

After Fire Audits:

We divide premises into two risk groups, “higher” or “lower”. As a general rule, the higher risk premises group would include hotels, boarding houses, care homes and licensed premises etc. and the lower risk premises group would include places such as factories, office and shops. It is assumed in most cases that a fire represents a failure of fire safety provisions in some way therefore we would intend to carry out a full fire safety audit in as many of these premises as possible.

Our target for after fire audits in higher risk premises is 75% (actually achieved 76%) and lower risk premises is 50% (actually achieved 73%).

Enforcement:

Enforcement action generally falls into two categories, either a notification of deficiencies or an enforcement notice. The third option of prohibition or restriction of use will only be imposed in the most serious of cases.

Since 1st October 2006, when the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order was first introduced, a total of 1126 Notices have been issued by Wiltshire FRS. Whilst enforcement notices always require follow up action, a minor notification of deficiencies may not always do so.

In the period since 1st October 2006, 567 premises have received a follow up audit and are now in the satisfactory category following this action.

Following every audit, a customer feedback questionnaire is sent to the responsible person to allow for critical comment on the standard of service provided by this department. This information is a useful indicator of the quality of service delivery provided and is used to help inform the departments training plan for the following year. The questionnaire is totally anonymous and is used to analyse the quality of service provided by the audit process.

The survey has been in place since the year 2008-2009 and the overall satisfaction level has been consistent at 96%.

Public Register:

As part of our enforcement duties, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service are required to maintain a public register of relevant notices under the Environment and Safety Information Act 1988.

All relevant notices can be viewed on the Wiltshire FRS website under the heading “Fire Safety Enforcement Register”.