Qualifications?

[cbfire999]

What qualifications would you suggest?  I am trying to set up on my own in the Fire training/Risk Assessment world.  I am currently Fire prevention qualified and have 16 years Fire Service experience.  I have about £1000 set aside to enhance my portfolio of qualifications.  Your views on this would be much appreciated or do I blow it down the pub!!

[Chris Houston]

Perhaps Membership of the Institution of Fire Engineers?  Associateship of the Institute of Risk Management?

You might want to consider getting on the IFE approved Risk Assessors Scheme.

Obviously both have a joining criteria, www.ife.org.uk and www.theirm.org.uk will have the details.

Joining the IFE as a Member costs £71 I think (plus a small fee) .  The IRM charge associate £115 plus a £60 one off fee.

Just some suggestions.

[Simon Morriss]

Personally I believe the best way forward will be to sit the CFPA Diploma in Fire Safety.  This is a European Fire Safety Qualification run by the Fire Protection Association in this country http://www.thefpa.co.uk it will cost more than your £1000 but is much more appropriate than any IFE qualification.  I have now sat both so I do know the content.  With all due respect to the IFE their qualifications are mostly based on Fire Fighting Operations and a relatively small amount on Fire Safety.  The CFPA diploma will also cover management issues which is just as big as working out escape widths and number of extinguishers needed.

I hope this helps.

Simon

[Gary Howe]

How can the IFE qualifications be based mostly on Fire Fighting operations?, when you have to sit four seperate papers to gain GIFireE or MIFireE.

Each paper contributes 25% so therefore the Fire Safety/Management/Science and and Ops papers have equal weighting, the study required for all papers is the same.

I do not know which Fire Safety paper you sat, I sat the Members one last year (and passed) and it was not a breeze.

Regards


Gary

[Simon Morriss]

Hi Gary

I have sat the Grads and the Fire Science paper for the Members.  After completeing all of those I decided that industry examination was more appropriate then Fire Service Qualification.  This sounds like I am slating the IFE qualification, I'm not and I agree with you it was not a breeze and it is a great qualification and I would defend them every time.

However, if you speak with most, and I stress most, fire safety professionals who have grown up in the business and not come out of the Fire Service they have a very different approach to how the issues are managed.  And here I do stress manage.

To work efficiently in industry you must understand where they are coming from and that is money, nothing else so unless you can provide information to back up why doing this will enhance your business you will always have an uphill struggle.  Yes you can bang them over the head with the law and that is where the Fire Service does a good job for me.  If I can't resolve it in house then I will ask my friendly FSO to draft a very harsh letter but this will normally be a few months down the line which could be too long.

The CFPA qualification gives an all round education in fire safety looking at every issue apart from practical fire fighting and if you are looking to manage fire safety in industry I still maintain this is the better way to go.

Simon

[potter 2]

Presentation skills,teaching skills,spoken ,written,,
Invest in hi-tech ..glossy certificates for the punter,unfortunateley b**l sh** still baffles brains in some markets,,..
qualifications ?not necessarily the answer to everything
IFE . good mag ,How does it get you business......join FPA(no exam but still put it on CV).  keep up to date on everything,,,,,.16 years service, might actually mean little knowledge ,but with the public it carrys a lot of weight,Target who you wish to trade with,continual cost of advertising..spot oppurtunities build up local presence.Try tying in with a local approved inspector to offer a package to business  share costs etc,

[cbfire999]

Thanks for all the replies, especially the last one which hit the nail on the head.  Although "16 years, little knowledge" seemed harsh However, i know where you are coming from on that score.  I totally agree high tech and glossy, if i were paying some of the high costs i have researched i would certainly expect a little more than a flimsy piece of A4!  Thanks again.

[potter 2]

Didnt mean you, It was in general.I am aware of others who  tried private ,but had only been operational and thought that was enough, they lasted about a month in the real world