PRIVATE INDUSTRY > PetroChemical

INDUSTRIAL FIRE TEAMS

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Guest:
Are there no persons from the Petro-Chemical or Nuclear industry who would like to start something in this section? You work in a hazardous environment, how about sharing some view and experiences with us?

He’s one I’d like to know, what is it like working in Industrial fire fighting over local authority. Is your training similar to ours, where do you go for training, how often do you do re-certification etc. It must be thirty years since Flixborough; what about that large oil tank fire in the 80’s? Anyone still serving or retired, got any views on how the Industrial teams involved, handled these jobs?

Guest:
We are the forgotten, under-funded poor relation in fire fighting. The government and HSE, never include us in any thinking on up grading work practices, why?

Our training courses are often short, and limited to the bare minimum. This is not due to training establishments, not being able to deliver, because the government don’t set standards. So the companies ask the courses to be short and infrequent.

Refresher courses can be as much as 5 years apart, depending on the company you work for. More and more industries are moving over to using so called part time emergency responders from the work force. Multi-national companies, who want to save a few hundred thousand and the first thing to get looked at for the chop, are the sites full time emergency service.

The accounts mind:

“I know how to save money, get rid of the whole time fire dept, send some of the work force on a one week fire course” Call them an emergency response set up and we are covered. Pay them a minor retaining fee and if able to do so, they can train together a few times a year”

The people recruited, do so with the best intentions, and may even have to volunteer to secure their job. Invariably, they always are useless. If they turned the tables and we took over their work area. Would any company say you are competent with a week’s course?  

I know from experience, these teams are dangerous, because they think they know what their doing. If you took anyone of them aside and gave them practical or written tests, you would be horrified at their lack of job knowledge.  It is common sense, if people are not properly trained and competent they are unsafe.

It sickens me to know we are being eroded and yet nobody in any sort of position of authority is monitoring and finding out why this is going on. The law of averages will catch up, and eventually a fire-incident will occur and these so-called emergency responders will get themselves or those they are there to assist, seriously injured or even killed.

You can hear the enquiry, detailing the inept approach of the company involved in their attitude towards a competent, emergency response department. When are the government and HSE you going to wake up and get to grips with this?

Does this answer your question?

fireftrm:
Interesting - the 'government don't set the standards' - well why should they?

The standards for ALL persons working in a fire service are already there! The latest National Occupational Standards were issued in August 2001 and were written by the fire service, including industry (for example BNFL were involved). These standards are available for any fire service to use - it is (presumably) your employers that are chosing not to?

Invovle your representative bodies in getting these standards (or the parts of them that apply to your workplace - such as Educate and Inform your Community on safety may not be suitable?) used for your service!

Guest:
It fine what you say about occupational standards, but a small industrial setup won’t have a training dept such as a county fire brigade. If there lucky, they’ll have one or two guys in the dept whom struggle to keep on top of the day to day issues. If they are all volunteers from inside the company whom respond to pager or a phone call, how likely are they to know or have time for IPDS or anything else? You need to walk a mile in another mans shoes to understand his problems.

fireftrm:
As I said:

These standards are available for any fire service to use - it is (presumably) your employers that are chosing not to?

Invovle your representative bodies in getting these standards (or the parts of them that apply to your workplace - such as Educate and Inform your Community on safety may not be suitable?) used for your service!

I do understand your problem, but it is not for the external agencies to help you now that the standards work has been done! It is for you to help yourself and fight your corner inside your organisation with your representative body. If that does not work - well I am sorry but there is really nothing anyone else can do. I am not being negative but that is the situation.

Sometimes you have to walk on your own feet to get anywhere, there is not always a carry chair.

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