CFRS Weekly Update - 01.12.2023
Weekly Update - at a glance
- Success achieved following focus on Home Safety Visits.
- New Power BI Dashboard launched.
- Places available on Supervisory Leadership Development programme.
- Operational Awareness Training Day recording now available.
- Registration window for Wholetime recruitment opens on Monday. Four 'Have a Go' sessions to be held at Ulverston, Workington and Carlisle.
- Early pay dates confirmed for December and January.
- Christmas gift appeal launched for hospital Children's Ward.
- Numerous Road Safety Week engagement activities held.
** Please note that the above information should be shared with all staff on parade. Detailed information for each of these headlines can be found below.
Prevention success
In September this year, the Prevention Team became aware of the fact that CFRS had fallen behind on our monthly target and therefore would not achieve the annualised target of 8,000 Home Safety Visits (HSVs). Staff absenteeism had created capacity issues, hence the shortfall.
To address the shortfall, a plan was put in place to include the recruitment of two new Community Safety Advisors. Welcome to Anna Driscoll and Liam Sharples!
Whilst we undertook the recruitment of CSAs, we called upon the excellent On-Call personnel to deliver HSVs in our rural communities.
A small team was formed and briefed to work from existing lists of vulnerable people and generate HSVs in high-risk areas.
This team of On-Call staff, supported by On-Call Support Crew Managers and our full-time CSAs has, in conjunction with the excellent work of our Wholetime operational crews, seen an increase in the number of HSVs delivered since September to make up the shortfall.
This puts us in an excellent position going forward to meet our commitment to the communities of Cumbria. A massive thank-you to those that volunteered to help with delivering HSVs; you have helped to make Cumbria a safer place for all. Thank-you also to the Business Service team for their support in administering the HSV paper forms and detail into the CFRMIS system.
Looking forward, we will continue with our offer from the operational crews, OCSCMs and CSAs and will be introducing some multi-agency targeted campaigns to ensure we make Cumbria a safer place for all.
Andrew Lowes, Station Manager - Prevention
New dashboard developed
Following on from the launch of the new 541 form, we have developed a Power BI Dashboard that looks into the data collected via this form.
It also features the new style and layout for our dashboards that we would like to use going forward, and we would welcome your feedback on this.
We now also have our own mailbox, and so if you ever have any queries, comments, or suggestions then you can now email us.
The Performance Team
Key incidents
Call-outs of note from the past week have included:
- on November 24, crews from Carlisle East and West attended a fire involving an electric consumer unit in a domestic property on Eldred Street, Carlisle.
- on November 25, crews from Kendal, Ambleside and Ulverston attended Ambleside Road, Windermere, to assist with a casualty who had been rescued from the water.
- on November 27, a crew from Penrith attended a building fire on Church View, Cliburn.
- on November 27, a crew from Kendal attended a building fire on Highgate, Kendal.
- on November 28, crews from Barrow, Ulverston and Kendal attended an RTC involving one car and one tractor on East View, Lindal.
- on November 29, crews from Appleby and Shap attended an RTC involving two vehicles on Maulds Meaburn, Penrith.
- on November 29, crews from Carlisle East and West attended an outbuilding fire on Lingmoor Way, Carlisle.
- on November 29, crews from Workington and Maryport attended a garage/roof fire at a domestic property on Lowca Lane, Seaton.
Supervisory training
We have 20 places available on the NFCC Supervisory Leadership Development programme.
This is an online programme that can be done in your own time. The course is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute. The course is available to both operational and corporate staff who have a supervisory or first line management responsibility. It is also open to those who would like to progress in the future into supervisory management.
Please send your details to Scott Cameron to be enrolled.
Scott Cameron, Station Manager - Learning and Development
Recording available
Following the Operational Awareness Training Day, themed Emerging Technology, on November 6, the recording of the first session by Professor Paul Christensen on lithium ion technology, and the presentation by GM John O’Boyle from Merseyside FRS on a BESS site in Liverpool, are available to view.
They have now been uploaded onto ‘Worth Reading’ on SharePoint, within the folder named ‘Operational Awareness – Emerging Technology’.
The day proved a big success in raising awareness with regards to the issues we may face at incidents in the future.
Paul Dean, Station Manager - Operational Planning
Wholetime recruitment to open
Our recruitment window for Wholetime Firefighters opens on Monday, December 4. All the registration information will go live on our website on Monday.
As part of our process, we are holding four 'Have A Go' sessions as follows:
- Saturday, December 9, 10am to 12pm at Ulverston Blue Light Hub
- Saturday, December 9, 1pm to 3pm, at Ulverston Blue Light Hub
- Tuesday, December 12, 7pm to 9pm, at Workington Fire Station
- Thursday, December 14, 7pm to 9pm, at Carlisle East Fire Station
If you are free and would like to come along and see what we are doing, or if you would like to support us on the day, please get in touch via our email.
Ollie Wright – Resourcing, Talent and Wellbeing Lead
Pay date changes
You may know already that Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service employees are normally paid on the last working day of the month and historically have been paid early in December.
It is recognised that this can mean a long period between December and January pay dates and therefore, the January pay date has also been brought forward.
The pay dates are:
- Friday, December 22
- Friday, January 26
If you have any queries in relation to this, please email HR.
Takara Hanks, Senior HR Advisor
Gartan payroll authorisation
Please can all On-Call Managers and Station Managers ensure that all of their Gartan payroll activities have been authorised by the 10th of the month to ensure they are processed on time for payroll.
If you have any queries in relation to this, please email Fire SDS.
Takara Hanks, Senior HR Advisor
Vacancies
Christmas appeal
This festive season, Chief Fire Officer Rick Ogden will be visiting the Children's Ward at the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, to donate gifts to the young people who are spending Christmas in hospital.
We are therefore inviting people from across the service to consider buying an extra gift this year for a child in hospital.
If you wish to donate, please wrap your gift and write a tag to indicate the age range for the present and, where appropriate, the gender it would be suitable for.
Please leave your donations at reception at Penrith HQ by Friday, December 15.
- All our stations are encouraged to hold a coffee morning or open evening this month to engage with our communities this festive period. If you are planning to hold an event and would like some support on promotion/communications, please contact Andrew Clarke.
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Volunteers needed
As part of our work with the Armed Forces Covenant, we are sharing the news that the Carlisle Sea Cadets are looking for volunteers. There are many different ways of supporting the Sea Cadets, from being a Non Uniformed Instructor, to a Unit Assistant, to being an Other Supporter, who can assist infrequently with odd jobs.
Please see this video for a taste of what volunteering with the Sea Cadets involves.
If you would like to find out about this opportunity, please contact Ollie Wright, who is a member of the Armed Forces Network, and will put you in touch with the Area Officer for Sea Cadets North West.
Ollie Wright - Resourcing, Talent and Wellbeing Lead
Memorial race
All are invited to take part in the second annual Dan Lee Mil Race, established in memory of former Royal Marine and Firefighter Dan Lee, taking place in the foothills of the Pennine Moors.
For more information and to register, click here or scan the QR code.
Winter safety advice
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Every year, the service experiences adverse safety events where winter conditions are the cause or a factor.
In particular, these events are often when travelling to the station in cars, on foot or on bicycles.
Please take note of the following sensible precautions which will reduce the risk of injury to you and other people:
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Station gritting
Supervisory managers should take time now to review the gritting plan for their station and ensure that there is sufficient grit and arrangements for constant availability of personnel to undertake the task when the forecast demands it. Keep up to date with the local forecast.
Ensure personnel carrying out the gritting are aware of the contents of the risk assessment and adopt the controls identified in it.
Responding to the station in snow/freezing conditions
- Is it really necessary to use your vehicle? If so, be prepared. Click here for winter driving advice from the RAC.
- Check your tyre pressures are correct and there is plenty of tread.
- Check all your lights are working.
- Top up windscreen washer with anti-freeze solution.
- Keep vehicle under cover/garaged if you can. Cover the windows/mirrors.
- Keep your access to the vehicle clear of snow and ice/gritted.
- Have de-icer spray and scraper available.
- Don’t attempt to drive with obscured windows.
- Drive to arrive in the prevailing conditions.
- Use the gritted access routes at stations.
- Bikes do not perform well in frost, ice or snow! Click here for winter cycling advice from Cycling UK.
Travelling for work
Check the local weather forecast if you are planning to travel. Click here for Met Office forecasts and here for weather warnings.
Is your journey really necessary? Could you meet using Teams instead? Could you use a local workbase instead of travelling? Talk to your manager.
Take all the advice on driving in severe weather. Plan and be prepared. Leave plenty of time.
Stay on gritted routes if you can. Make sure your phone is charged. Take warm clothes/food/drink.
Ensure someone knows where you are.
Drilling/incidents in freezing conditions
Please avoid creating icy areas doing wet drills. Also be aware of creating similar hazards at incidents. Where is the water going and freezing? Cordon off if necessary. Ask for Highways to support with gritting.
Duncan Taylor, Health and Safety Manager
Safety messaging spread across county
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We used last week's Road Safety Week to share important advice around road and vehicle safety.
In Carlisle city centre, crews from Carlisle East and West joined a host of partner organisations for a successful awareness event. It included an RTC extraction demonstration and there was the chance for members of the public to view our vehicles and ask questions.
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Additionally, Carlisle East and West visited Austin Friar's School to deliver Road Awareness Training and a demonstration to the pupils (pictured right), while in Barrow, youngsters taking part in the Mini Police programme visited the station for a guided tour (pictured below) that included a Road Awareness Training session and information on performing CPR. |
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On-Call Appreciation Events
Our On-Call Appreciation Events continued this week with successful gatherings at Barrow (pictured left) and Cockermouth (pictured below).
The events give us the opportunity to thank our On-Call teams for their commitment to their communities, and to acknowledge their support networks of their families and primary employers.
The events will take a pause for the festive period and resume in 2024 with Lazonby (January 17) and Aspatria (January 18).
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Features that have promoted us in the media and on social media this week have included...
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Our various engagement activities during Road Safety Week have attracted significant social media coverage, including RTC awareness training delivered by Workington and Whitehaven to students at Lakes College (pictured); Carlisle East and West's attendance at a multi-agency event in Carlisle city centre (in the 'Our Events' section); and Kendal visiting the community and businesses to deliver road safety advice and leaflets. |
Facebook plea
In order to increase the reach of our Facebook posts, I am asking for your assistance and your local knowledge to advise me of community Facebook groups that we should access.
By posting into local groups such as, for example, Cleator Moor Born and Bred, Brampton District or We Are Kirkby Lonsdale, we can target our messaging directly into communities where appropriate.
Please send suggestions of groups you are aware of in your communities to Andrew Clarke.
Andrew Clarke, Communications and Engagement Officer
- Electrical Fire Safety Week - December 4 to 10
- Barrow Fire Station is holding its 2nd annual Winter Wonderland from December 12 to 23. All proceeds go to The Firefighters Charity. Tickets available here.
To have your events included in this section, please email cfrs.update@cumbriafire.gov.uk
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