Protection
Protection, typically known as ‘building safety’, represents the activities undertaken by fire and rescue services (FRS) to help reduce the risk to people and our communities of death or serious injury from fire. This is normally done through the application of legislation or working with others within broader legislative frameworks. For example, FRS undertaken audits of premises, find out what may put people at risk and require changes to be made that will help people stay safe. In some cases they may prosecute those responsible for putting others at risk.
The range of scenarios in which FRS undertake protection activities is huge, examples being:
- Places of work such as shops and fact
- Those where people may be particularly vulnerable such as hospitals and care homes.
- Buildings where lots of people live and share its facilities such as blocks of flats.
- Events and public places of assembly such as sports grounds or cinemas.
While FRS have a legal duty to undertake protection work, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) support them by representing their collective views at a national level with and outside the normal remit of FRS and providing technical and practical advice and support. Typically this support can take the form of:
- Position statements that represent the view of FRS on particular areas of policy.
- Learning and guidance and the systems which FRS can use to access them.
- Representation to central government departments for matter such as legislative development.
- Working with other organisations and initiatives across the built environment industry to develop new ways of working.
- Assisting in the development of key technical standards which will inform how we build and run our buildings in the future.
These key areas of work offer an overview of NFCC’s Protection priorities, and you can read more on the Protection and Business Safety Committee page.
Culture change
Buildings have been built and managed in such a way that people are put at unnecessary risk from fire and other hazards, and they continue to be, NFCC has been consistent in its call that things must change and has worked to ensure that its voice, representing the views of FRS is heard at all levels.
Supporting regulatory change
We have provided extensive technical and policy support to the efforts being made to improve buildings and how they are built as well as what do about them when things aren’t good enough. This includes working with government departments and other regulators on issues such as the scope of buildings being addressed and the standards to which they are built and run.
Pushing for continued improvement
We have been clear that the mission of making people safer within the built environment has no finish line. While we support much of what has been done, we believe there are areas where we can and should go further and we continue to work with FRS to understand where things can improve and use the ability of NFCC to effect that change moving forward.
