Prevention - Fire Standards Board

Desired outcome

Under review

A fire and rescue service that works to educate its communities to adopt safer behaviours, improving their safety, health and wellbeing. One that reduces Community related risks identified through its Community risk management planning and reduces incidents through delivering effective, efficient and targeted prevention activities.

A service with a learning and sharing culture, working collaboratively with Others where appropriate, seeking to improve and innovate prevention activities. One that contributes to a more consistent national approach to reducing risk and keeping communities safe.

Activity

Service Delivery

Business Area(s)

Prevention

Date approved: 29 Jul 2021
Date issued: 30 Jul 2021
last review: 03 Feb 2025
Reference number: FSD-PRE01

What is required to meet the fire standard

A fire and rescue service must:

identify those who are most at risk in its Community and target prevention activities in an inclusive way, through its Community risk management planning;
adopt a Person-Centred Approach that places the individual and the Community it serves at the core of its prevention activity;
develop a Prevention Strategy and plan with the flexibility to proactively respond and adapt to the changing needs of its Community , and for this to be supported by a named lead for prevention from within the service;
recruit, train, and develop employees and volunteers, working with Others where relevant, to establish and maintain a competent and professional prevention workforce. This includes being qualified in accordance with relevant legislation and requirements for example Safeguarding ;
optimise resources to proactively engage and educate the Community it serves, working collaboratively with Others as and when appropriate;
demonstrate inclusivity by recognising the diversity of its Community and providing Equality of Access ;
utilise and share accurate and consistent data and intelligence, from a variety of sources to support evidence-based decision making and the deployment of appropriate resources for prevention activities;
demonstrate how it monitors and evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of its prevention activity;
generate a culture which embraces national and organisational learning allowing it to identify and capture feedback from a range of sources; evaluate, share and act upon it to drive innovation and continuous improvement and enhance future performance.

Where Fire Investigation is managed within a fire and rescue service’s prevention function, a fire and rescue service must:

investigate, report on and learn from the cause and behaviour of fires, working with Others when appropriate.

To support this Fire Standard, a fire and rescue service should:

contribute to the continual improvement of prevention activities coordinated through the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) network; and
contribute and support national campaigns, where appropriate and where resources are available.

Expected benefits of achieving the fire standard

Improved safety, health and wellbeing of communities leading to a reduction in incidents, injuries, serious injuries and fatalities.
Improved competency in the prevention workforce, including an increase in the number of employees and volunteers trained.
Improved evaluation to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of prevention activities.

Legal requirements or mandatory duties

This Fire Standard reflects only the most appropriate legislation to this topic. We recognise that fire and rescue services must comply with a broader list of legislation to undertake their duties, which would be applicable to all standards. View the legislation which applies to all Fire Standards.

Linked qualifications, accreditations or fire standards

Guidance and supporting information

Glossary of terms

Community

A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

Community Risk Management Planning

The process by which services identify community risks, estimates of the impact of those risks should they occur, and define their preventative and response activities to them for their geographic area of responsibility. Services collate this information in a risk management plan (known previously as an Integrated Risk Management Plan) or to align with latest guidance – a Community Risk Management Plan.

Equality of Access

The responsibility of ensuring all services and information provided by a fire and rescue service to the public or within their organisation, is inclusive and accessible.

Others

A collective term to describe the parties that may be pertinent to the activity described in the standard. This might include both organisations or the employees and volunteers of those organisations such as but not limited to, other fire and rescue services, partner organisations, other emergency responder agencies, stakeholders or members of a community

Person-Centred Approach

An approach that places the individual and the communities served by the fire and rescue service at the core of its prevention activity.

Prevention Strategy

The approach being taken by a fire and rescue service in relation to delivering its prevention activities. This may be a single document or something which is part of a larger group of documents depending on how the service approaches its strategic planning for the organisation.

Safeguarding

To protect another person’s right to live and work in safety, free from abuse and harm.

You Said, We did

If you have taken part in a consultation, you may be interested to read our post-consultation “You said, we did” report to see how your feedback has shaped this Fire Standard.

Prevention Fire Standard

Note Please contact the Fire Standards team within the NFCC for any queries or support with regards to this Fire Standard [email protected]