FIRE SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Fire Warden duties to be spread, and is equally a constant reminder to the area’s manager of all the listed fire wardens in their department, and of the need to let us know should one leave the Trust or relocate. It also informs all the existing fire wardens of the identity of all the others where they work.”
The day of my trip to see Jamie Keay was a Monday. He said: “Checklists went out this morning, and we have a ‘speedometer’-like dashboard which confirms that 52 per cent of the checklists issued today have already been completed and returned. If a checklist hasn’t come back by Thursday, the software sends a reminder email to the individuals concerned. It’s the job of either the line manager, or the fire wardens, liaising with each other, to ensure that one completed checklist is sent back per department or ward per week. “If a fire warden clicks on the link, and opens up the checklist, they can immediately see if it’s been completed. Sometimes the same person completes the checklist each week, and in other areas the task is rotated. If the checklist has still not been returned by the end of Sunday, the ward or non-clinical area has ‘missed’ that week. We report the omissions to the Fire Safety Committee, which passes the information on to the Health & Safety Committee.”
Everything is recorded Jamie Keay added: “Everything is recorded, including the name of the completer of the checklist. All the fire safety checks – while ‘non-technical’– are important; for instance ensuring that fire doors are not wedged open, and that exits are not blocked, are elements that you can train anyone to do. In all there are 21 different ‘actions’ on the checklist.” Having given a me feel for how the checklist works, and the facility to see – at a glance – the rate of returns, Jamie Keay next showed a page which highlighted, using a pie chart, the number of fire wardens in the various areas right across the Trust; valuable information in identifying which clinical and non-clinical areas have either the minimum or the ‘optimal’ number of fire wardens in place. From this, we could immediately see the status of every ward, in terms of the minimum and optimum number of fire wardens. This information can be used to target training and advise line managers of staff who are out of training currently. The Fire Safety advisor said: “As of today, I can see from the software areas classified green (optimum), areas classified orange (minimum), and areas classified red (below minimum); this can be used to target a response. All the data is accurate and up to the minute, so all the charts, graphs, and tables show the current status.” The FCO Fire Wardens
44 Health Estate Journal November 2020
It is quick and easy to add details of a new fire warden to the FCO software Fire Warden module.
module in use at Croydon University Hospital also shows which fire wardens are ‘active’, ‘trained’, and ‘listed’. Jamie Keay explained: “’Active’ fire wardens are those trained and receiving the checklist; ‘trained’ fire wardens are those trained, but not necessarily getting the checklist – for instance if they don’t have access to a computer. The ‘listed’ designation is not used here, but it might be used by other Trusts.”
Drilling down into the data Another screen showed fire warden numbers split between ‘inpatient’, ‘outpatient’, and ‘non-patient’ areas. Jamie Keay said: “This is quite interesting, as these are critical areas for a response if numbers are close to, or below, minimum”.
Our next focus was a ‘tab’ which took us to details on a particular location – in this case, the Wandle 3 ward – via which we could see detail on the fire wardens there, and their level of training. He explained: “The FCO software offers considerable flexibility; we have ours set up in a way that works for us, with weekly fire safety checks, but another Trust
might set things up quite differently.” The software in use by Croydon Health Services NHS Trust is also set up to indicate which fire wardens and other staff in any location are ‘Trust’ or ‘non- Trust’ – such as personnel based at the site from London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital, and those running renal services from another nearby Trust.
Maintaining fire safety competency Jamie Keay went on to explain that once a Fire Warden was trained by the Trust, their ‘competency’ lasted three years. Within the page for Wandle 3 he pointed to the field indicating training for a particular staff member which had turned orange, signifying that their ‘competency’ would run out within three months, and that they would need refresher training. Fire warden training, he explained, typically took about 2-2.5 hours, and would include general fire safety information, input on FCO software, and instruction on fire extinguisher use. Looking at the checklist, it was possible to see areas that had missed their checklist return – for which the Fire team would need to follow up.
A ‘Location Picker’ screen via which the user can ‘drill down’ to the ward or department on which he/she requires more information.
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