Roscommon County Council
FIRE SERVICE & CIVIL DEFENCE

SERVICEDELIVERY PLAN 2015

Section 134A Local Government Act, 2001 as amended.

Title / Annual Service Delivery Plan
Version / V_1
Date / 9th March 2015
Status / Draft
Approved By

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION DESCRIPTION

1Purpose and Scope

2Executive Summary

3Organisation

4Statement of services provided by the Fire Service and Civil Defence section.

5Fire Service & Civil Defence statement of objectives and priorities

6Fire Service Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)

7Fire Service List of Baseline Data 2013 & 2014

8Roscommon Civil Defence Strategy Statement 2014-2017.

ROSCOMMON COUNTY COUNCIL

FIRE SERVICE & CIVIL DEFENCE

S.134A SERVICE DELIVERY PLAN 2015

This Plan has been approved on this _____ day of ______2015

Signed: ______

Chief Fire Officer

Roscommon County Council

Signed: ______

Director of Services

Roscommon County Council

Section 1. Purpose and Scope

This Service Delivery Plan describes the objectives, priorities and supporting strategies for the delivery of statutory Fire Authorityfunctions and forms part of the overall Service Delivery Plan for Roscommon County Council for the financial year 2015.

This plan has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Section 50 of the Local Government Reform Act, 2014 and its amendment (under section 134A) of the Local Government Act, 2001 (the Principal Act).This report demonstrates how the Fire Service department will support the strategic objectives set out in the Roscommon County Council Corporate Plan 2015 – 2019.

The Roscommon County Council corporate objectives and supporting strategies are described here:

Objective 1: Leading the economic development of County Roscommon, including

· Developing and Promoting Enterprise and Job Creation

· Positive Promotion of the County

· Infrastructural Development

Objective 2: Improving the quality of life and well being for all in County Roscommon

· Protecting the natural and built environment

· Supporting cultural and community development

· Combating social disadvantage and isolation

Objective 3: Building a Modern and Innovative Organisation through continuous improvement

· Leadership

· Customers

· Communication and Resources

· Governance

Figure 1 demonstrates the context and connection between the Roscommon County Council corporate objectives and the supporting strategies for the Fire Service and Civil Defence. This service delivery plan describeshow Roscommon County Councils Emergency Serviceswill meet their performance goals as described in the Roscommon County Council Corporate Plan 2015-2019.

These performance goals include:

  • To protect communities from fire and other emergencies, working with partner agencies and in accordance with national policies.
  • To ensure that appropriate facilities are available to receive emergency calls.
  • To make provision for prompt and efficient extinguishment of fires and for the protection and rescue of persons and property from fire.
  • To maintain suitably equipped and trained fire personnel.
  • To ensure that a Community Fire Safety Programme is in operation.
  • To ensure inspections under the Fire Services Act 1981 – 2003 are undertaken.
  • To advise on Fire Safety Certificate applications under the Building Control Act 1990 – 2013.

This Annual Service Delivery Plan has been approved by the Director of Services for Emergency Services, Mrs. Majella Hunt. The progress and implementation of this plan will be subject to both a mid-year review andend of year review.


Section 2. Executive Summary 2015

The 2015 service delivery plan takes cognisance of the requirements of Section 134A, sub-section (4)(a) of the Local Government Act, 2001, as amended,and reconciles the Corporate Plan objectives with the requirements of the legal and operational environment within which the Fire Service works (see Figure 2).

Section 134A(4) states that,“in preparing its service delivery plan a local authority shall – (a) take account of such policies and objectives in relation to any of its functional programmes that are set out in -”

– “any other plan, statement or strategy under the Local Government Acts 1925 to 2014,”[Section 134A(4)(a)(i)];

  • Keeping Communities Safe - A Framework for Fire Safety in Ireland (2013) – published by the National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management with status as national policy within the meaning of Section 69(1)(e) of the Local Government Act, 2001.

– “any service level agreements,”[Section 134A(4)(a)(ii)];

  • Existing Service Level Agreements entered into by Roscommon County Council for the delivery of Fire Authority functions e.g. Section 85 agreements with Westmeath Co Co for the provision of fire-fighting resources in south County Roscommon & Mayo County Council for the provision of the Regional Control Centre (CAMP West).

– “any other document prepared by it under this Act or any other enactment,”[Section 134A(4)(a)(iii)];

  • Fire Service Acts, 1981 – 2003 – Section 26 Fire Service Emergency Operations Plan 2011 – 2015 and supporting Fire Service Annual operations Plan 2015.
  • Health, Safety & Welfare at Work Acts – Fire Service Ancillary Safety Statement and Fire Service Annual Safety Management Programme 2015.
  • Roscommon County Council Civil Defence Strategy Statement 2014 – 2017.

The details contained in this Plan demonstrate howthe Roscommon County Council Fire Service and Civil Defenceproposes to satisfy the standards and goals of the aforementioned policies and plans and how the Corporate Plan objectives can be supported.

A new Section 26 Fire Services Operational Plan for 2016 – 2020 will have to be prepared during 2015 in accordance with the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency management policy document “Keeping Communities Safe.” This is a reserved function and the members of Roscommon County Council will haveto assess and approve the new Section 26 Plan prior to implementation from 2016.

Figure 2; Corporate Plan & Objectives link to Fire Service legal/statutory requirements and policy.

Section 3. Organisation

The Fire Services Acts 1981 to 2003 set out the statutory Fire Authority Functions to be provided by Roscommon County Council.

The Fire Service Department is part of the Environmental and Emergency Services Directorate and SPC and it maintains6fire stations in the County; Roscommon, Castlerea, Ballaghaderreen, Boyle, Elphin & Strokestown.

Roscommon County Council has a Section 85 Agreement with Mayo County Council to receive emergency calls for the Fire Service and to mobilise its personnel to such calls. Long standing Service Level Agreements are also in place with each of Roscommon’s seven neighbouring local authorities for the exchange of fire-fighting resources to respond to emergency events within each other’s functional areas.

The organisation of the Roscommon County Council Fire Service is shown in chart format below.

Section 4. Statement of services provided by the Fire Service & Civil Defence section.

Section 134A(3)(a) requires that the Service Delivery Plan shall include a statement of the principal services that will either continue to be provided or will otherwise be provided by Roscommon County Council in 2015.

Core Fire Service Functions

The following core Fire Service & Civil Defence functions provide a schedule of the principle elements of the emergency services to be provided by Roscommon County Council in 2015. The tasks and work breakdown associated with these functions are developed further in Section 5 of this report.

  1. Fire Brigade Operations (FA duty)
  2. Health & Safety Management (LA duty)
  3. Community Fire Safety incl. Prevention & enforcement (FA duty)
  4. Major Emergency Management (LA duty)
  5. Governance & Corporate/Admin support
  • Annual Service Plans (TDP & PDP)
  • Finance & procurement
  • ICT
  • HR/IR

Statutory Fire Authority functions & duties

The Fire Authority functions delivered by the Fire Service are anchored in the principal legislation of the Fire Services Acts 1981 – 2003 which include the following requirements:

Section 10 of the Fire Services Act, 1981 outlines the functions of the Fire Authority. Some of these functions include:

S.10(1) “A Fire Authority shall have the functions assigned to it by or under this Act”.

S.10(2) “A Fire Authority shall -

  1. Make provision for the prompt and efficient extinguishing of fires in buildings and other places of all kinds in its functional area and for the protection and rescue of persons and property from injury by fire, and
  2. establish and maintain a Fire Brigade, provide premises and make such other provision as it considers necessary or desirable for such purpose, and
  3. make adequate provision for the reception of and response to calls for the assistance of the Fire Brigade.

S.10(3) “A Fire Authority shall, in the exercise of its functions under subsection (2), have regard (in addition to all other relevant considerations) to the nature of the fire hazards and the probable incidence and extent of fires in its functional area, the character of the area and the value of the property liable to be damaged by fires”

S.10(10) “Fire Authority shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this section and as occasion requires, make a survey to examine the location and adequacy of water supplies for fire-fighting purposes, fire fighting equipment and fire hydrants.”

Section 11 – Transfer of Functions to Fire Authorities

Section 11 of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003 outlines the functions of a Fire Authority under the following enactments:

S.11(1)(a) - The Dangerous Substances Act, 1972: The Fire Authority is responsible for the licensing of Retail Petroleum Stores and Petroleum Bulk Stores.

S.11(1)(b) - The Explosives Act, 1875: Under this Act Fire Authorities are the licensing authority for explosives stores and have various other functions under the Act including Fireworks.

S.11(2) - A Fire Authority shall, within its functional area, perform the functions relating to means of escape in case of fire given to sanitary authorities in;

a. the Safety in Industry Acts, 19955 and 1980, and

b. the office Premises Act, 1958.

(The means of escape provisions shall be enforced by the Fire Authority).

S.11(3) - Under Section 36 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890 buildings used as a place of public resort are required to be “supplied with ample, safe and convenient means of ingress and egress for the use of the public, regard being had for the purposes for which such building is intended to be used, and the number of persons likely to be assembled at any one time there in”

Enforcement of this requirement is the responsibility of the Fire Authority.

Section 14 – Co-operation between the authorities:

“ It shall be the duty of fire authorities to afford, on request, assistance to each other, provided that such assistance can be given without reducing fire services in the functional area of the assisting authority below a standard which it considers to be necessary”

Section 15 – Training.

Section 15 of the Fire Services Act provides for training of fire service personnel: -

S. 15(1) - It shall be the duty of a Fire Authority to make arrangements forthe efficient training of the personnel of its fire services.

S.15(2) - A fire authority may establish and maintain facilities for providing courses of instruction for the personnel of its own or other fire services and for training other persons in fire-fighting techniques, fire drill procedures, fire safety and analogous matters.

Section 20(8) requires the Fire Authority to keep a register of Fire Safety notices served by it.

Section 29 Public Water Supply for fire-fighting.

This Section confirms the duty of the Sanitary Authority to provide water supplies for fire-fighting purposes and to provide and maintain fire hydrants at places required by the Fire Authority.

Other legislative and national policy requirements facilitated by the Fire Service

Framework for Major Emergency Management

Should a MAJOR EMERGENCY occur within the Functional Area of the Council, the Local Authority Element of the Major Emergency Plan will be activated. The Major Emergency Plan for CountyRoscommon provides for a co-ordinated response by Roscommon County Council, An Garda Síochána, and the Western Region of the Health Service Executive.

The implementation of the Framework for Major Emergency Management has been approved as Government national policy since 2006. At present Roscommon County Council is part of the Western Region Emergency Planning Group. Roscommon County Council implemented its Major Emergency Plan on the 30th September 2008 and has been revised in February 2014. Roscommon County Council Fire Service takes a lead role in facilitating the organisations preparedness for major emergency events and has its own particular operational procedures incorporated into this Plan. Personnel who may be required at a Major Emergency is under constant review.

Building Control Regulations

There is a substantial volume of Fire Safety work (prevention and community initiatives) carried out by the Fire Service under the Building Control Acts 1990 – 2007 and under variouslicensing legislation where Fire Authority consent is required for the Courts Service.

Under the Building Control Regulations Section 13(2):

“A building control authority shall having considered an application for a fire safety certificate, grant the certificate with or without conditions or refuse togrant the certificate as the case may be”.

Section 5. Fire Service & Civil Defence statement of objectives and priorities

Section 134A(3)(b) requires that the Service Delivery Plan shall include the objectives and priorities and the supporting strategies for the services to be provided by Roscommon County Council in 2015.

Core Functions – Tasks & work breakdown summary.

  1. Fire Brigade Operations (FA duty)
  2. Health & Safety Management (LA duty)

The S.26 Emergency Operations Plan 2011 – 2015 requires that an annual operational service plan is prepared for each year of the 5 year strategy document. Similarly, the Fire Service ancillary safety statement requires that an annual safety programme is developed for the fire service.

The following outlines the objectives and priorities for the Roscommon Fire Service for 2015 in order to meet the requirements of the supporting strategy documents described above.

Detailed underneath is the Health & Safety Programme forthe Year 2015 which addresses the following areas:

  • Training [Develop & Implement Policy Document],
  • Equipment Maintenance [Develop & Implement Policy Documents],
  • Fleet Servicing,
  • Recruitment,
  • Team Meetings,
  • Brigade Orders,
  • Revise Fire Service Ancillary Safety Statement, Quarterly H & S reviews, etc,
  • NICS Operation.

Training 2015

Annual Training Programme developed in line with Roscommon Fire Service Training Policy Document.

Course Title / Initial or Refresher / Duration [Days] / Number[s] / Brigade[s] / Schedule
1]. / Abrasive Wheels / Initial / 1 / 11 / RN11 / February
2]. / Compressed Air Foam System / Refresher / 1 / 9 / RN16 / 22.01.2015
3]. / Winch Operator / Initial / 1 / 55 / ALL / February
4]. / Fall Arrest/Working At Heights / Refresher / 1 / 55 / ALL / Feb/Apr
5]. / Emergency Traffic Management / Initial / 1 / 54 / ALL / May
6]. / Hydraulic Platform Operator / Initial / 3 / 3 / RN11 / [05-07].05.2015
Refresher / 1 / 7 / RN11 / [26-28].05.2015
7]. / Emergency First Responder / Refresher / 3 / 20 / ALL / April
Initial / 5 / 6 / RN11/12/13 / September
8]. / Water Operational Responder / Initial / 1 / 9 / RN14 / October
9]. / Pump Operator / Initial / 3 / 12 / ALL / October
Initial / 3 / 12 / ALL / November
10]. / Emergency Fire Appliance Driving / Initial / 5 / 20 / ALL / Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec
11]. / Recruits Induction / Initial / 15 / 2 / RN13/16 / ?????
12]. / Breathing Apparatus Wearers / Initial / 10 / 2 / RN13/16 / ?????
13]. / Compartment Fire Behaviour / Initial / 3 / 3 / RN11/13/16 / ?????
14]. / Breathing Apparatus Instructor / Instructor / 8 / 2 / RN11/15 / [09-18].03.2015
15]. / Compartment Fire Behaviour Instructor / Instructor / 8 / 2 / RN11 / [09-18].02.2015
16]. / Fall Arrest/Working At Heights Instructor / Instructor / 1 / 1 / RN16 / 14.01.2015
17]. / Abrasive Wheels Instructor / Instructor / 1 / 1 / RN11 / 30.01.2015
18]. / Junior Officer Unit 2 / Officer / 10 / 3 / RN11/12/15 / ?????
19]. / Junior Officer Unit 1 / Officer / 10 / 1 / RN11 / Apr
20]. / ESDS Driver Instructor / Driver / 10 / 1 / RN14 / Jun

Drill Nights 2015

On-Station Drill Training Schedule

All personnel attend scheduled drill nights in their respective Fire Stations. The drill programme is issued by HQ which outlines the ongoing training requirements.

Typically each person attends seven [7] drill nights per quarter, four [4] quarters in the year with each drill night consisting of three [3] hours.

Therefore: 7 x 4 x 3 = 84 hours each year.

Breakdown: 12 months x 2 drills = 24

Quarterly Tests: 4 drills = 4

24 + 4 = 28 Drills x 3 hours = 84 hours

Roscommon Fire Service policy is to target the provision of a minimum of 100 hours training per Fire-fighter per annum:

e.g. 84 hours [drills] + Winch [8 hours] + Fall Arrest [8 Hours] + ETM [8 hours] = 108 hours

Equipment Maintenance (develop & implement policy document)

All equipment that requires maintenance and servicing is done so in accordance with the Roscommon Fire Service Equipment Maintenance Policy Document, 2015. The work done is carried out by qualified, specialist, competent companies. Detailed below is an indication of our equipment maintenance schedule:

Equipment / Company / Timetable
Ladders / Sidhean Teo / Yearly
Pumps / Sidhean Teo / Yearly
RTC Gear / Vanguard / Yearly
Hydraulic Gear / Vanguard / Yearly
Pneumatic Airbags, etc / Vanguard/Consolidated / Yearly
Winches / Sidhean Teo / Yearly
Winch Equipment / Hoistech / 6 Months
Fall Arrest Gear / Hoistech / 6 Months
Scene Lighting & Strobes / Sidhean Teo / Yearly
Chemical Protective Clothing / Vanguard / Yearly
PPE / Various / Quarterly
Roller Doors / MC Engineering / Yearly
Breathing Apparatus Sets / Respro / Monthly/Yearly
Breathing Apparatus Cylinders / Respro / Yearly
Compressor / Respro / Yearly
Life Jackets / MSC / Yearly

Fleet Servicing 2015

The entire fleet is serviced once a year by Westward Scania, Strokestown & Kelly’s Trucks, Strokestown. Each vehicle is fully serviced and a CVRT Test carried out to ensure road worthiness. The fleet consists of the following:

  • 6 x A1’s,
  • 1 x A2,
  • 1 x ET,
  • 1 x HP,
  • 2 x WT’s,
  • 7 x 4WD’s.

Roscommon Fire Service hasarrangements in place to avail of the 24 hour call-out service from both Westward Scania & Kelly’s Trucks. Tenders will be sought for the procurement of vehicle maintenance contracts during 2015.

Recruitment 2015

The normal retained complement in Roscommon Fire Service is 56 personnel. At present there are three [3] vacancies at Fire Fighter level with another one Fire Fighter vacancy due in September.

Roscommon Town – [2] vacancy,

Ballaghaderreen – [1] vacancy,

Strokestown – [1] vacancy due in September,

Training for new recruits normally takes place in one of the Fire Service regional training centres outside Roscommon.