Recession

[jokar]

I just wondered whether any of you have any thoughts on this.

I have been told by a number of sources that Companies are now not inviting tenders for contracts for fire safety training and risk assessement work.  The logic behind this is that the bean counters wish to avoid financial outlay where they consider it uneccessary.  A number of individuals have been invited to speak to representatives of companies, large and small, to glean information on the status of training and risk assessment in the legislation and how FRs operate in a particular area.  Given this information, they then decide that they need not do any work until the FRS come calling.

The other side to this is that some want money spent out of the 2008/2009 budget for work to be done in 2009/2010.

Any one have any thoughts or experiences of this?

I am also interested as to how this may affect the FRS IRMP programmes for Fire Safety enforcement.

[kurnal]

Hi Jokar
Are you suggesting that this is being considered in some organised and co-ordinated way? If so it is new but I suspect it may be an unfounded conspiracy theory. Who has invited the "number of individuals" to speak to companies?

At the end of the day its the Responsible Person who creates the risk and has the absolute duty to manage that risk. As we all know that duty cannot be delegated to any other party so if they go down this path its on their own shoulders. Its they who will be in the witness box.

Whole sectors of industry and commerce have worked on the basis of doing nothing till the FRS come calling- thats been the case for years. And it applies to other areas of H&S.
I do believe some brigades, having trimmed their enforcement departments to the bone are now  focussing more or less entirely on sleeping risks.

[nearlythere]

I just wondered whether any of you have any thoughts on this.

I have been told by a number of sources that Companies are now not inviting tenders for contracts for fire safety training and risk assessement work.  The logic behind this is that the bean counters wish to avoid financial outlay where they consider it uneccessary.  A number of individuals have been invited to speak to representatives of companies, large and small, to glean information on the status of training and risk assessment in the legislation and how FRs operate in a particular area.  Given this information, they then decide that they need not do any work until the FRS come calling.

The other side to this is that some want money spent out of the 2008/2009 budget for work to be done in 2009/2010.

Any one have any thoughts or experiences of this?

I am also interested as to how this may affect the FRS IRMP programmes for Fire Safety enforcement.

I would think Jokar that this is the norm particularily in the case of the small operator. I get many calls from employers enquiring about the new N.I legislation and how it will effect them unaware that FRAs have been a requirement in the workplace since 2001.
Some think that the insurance industry will drive the FRA process forward more than FRSs. Not so. I have been told by an insurer that it does not push FRAs being a condition of cover because if it does the client will soon source  a company which doesn't.