People Impact Assessment It is important to KFRS that it gives due consideration to the equality impact of its policies on local communities and its workforce. In particular, it needs to consider the effect on employees and service users with protected characteristics. Before submitting any new policy or project for approval, you must take reasonable steps to research any further information required and/or engage in consultation, in order to be able to complete this impact assessment. Please refer to attached Guidance notes Name of Policy /Project: Operational Capability review. Firefighting tactics and Road Traffic Collisions (RTC) 1 What is the purpose / expected outcome of this policy/ project? To identify how the Authority responds to fires and road traffic collisions (RTCs), and develop a number of options for improvement by exploring innovations in technology and challenging current polices and procedures. The review will look at ways to work more efficiently and maximise the use of resources. It will assess what equipment and staff are needed to deal with an incident, how it should be used, where it s based and how it is transported. The Review will focus on providing the best outcome for those involved in the incident whilst being realistic about the current financial climate. 2 Who will be affected by this policy/ project? The community may be affected in terms of a possible reduction in attending firefighter numbers, but should benefit from more effective service delivery due to the increased use of more appropriate firefighting and RTC equipment and tactics. Staff may be affected due to a possible change in their required skill sets which may have an affect on their working arrangements, as well as a reduction in the numbers of staff on appliance in certain instances. 3 Are there any communities, groups, or people with protected characteristics who could be disproportionately affected by this policy/ project (positively or negatively) or who may require some additional consideration to be made for them? Remember to consider any potential impact on both service users and employees. Please respond in each box below: YES/NO YES/NO YES/NO Race NO Marital Status & Civil NO Sexual Orientation NO partnership Sex NO Gender reassignment NO Religion and Belief NO Age NO Pregnancy and Maternity NO Disability NO
Any other group(s) you have identified which could be affected (Please specify ) 4 If you have answered NO to ALL the above, please give your reasons (this should not be left blank). Community impact Firefighting tactics The review will identify a new model for responding to incidents as well as other methods of firefighting media delivery. These new response models will seek to ensure that the most effective and efficient equipment is deployed to extinguish fires. While there may be a perceived negative impact to the community as a whole in that there may be fewer persons riding on fire appliances within this new model, this is countered by the use of more effective firefighting methods requiring less people to operate and the availability of more appliances who can support these persons. These impacts will affect the community as a whole, and do not affect groups or people with protected characteristics in a disproportionate way. RTC This facet of the review identified changes that would address instances of over mobilisation and enhance equipment capability where this is identified as lacking. The project has identified already the increasing diversity and demand of KFRS service delivery requested from other agencies. As this project seeks to address these additional requirements which are currently not available, it will enable the enhancement of KFRS ability to serve the community it protects. Staff impact Firefighting tactics/rtc No personnel have been identified as suffering a reduction in working conditions or remuneration from the identified recommendations of this review. There will be a need for staff to undertake training regarding new working practices and equipment, but this is not expected to be significant in scope or overwhelming. The reduction in the numbers of staff that may immediately be available at an operational incident (due to appliances being crewed with three persons rather than 4) may impact on the stress levels of incident commanders faced with a moral pressure to act without the resources to do so. This however, is not an issue new to this group, as this can occur at any incident. The changes required to implement the reviews outcomes are generic to all persons and therefore no one group of employees are affected differently. 5 If you have answered YES to any of the above: a) Please briefly outline any issue(s) identified b) Are any actions needed to address issues outlined above? If so, please complete PIA Action Plan below.
c) If no action is proposed, please give justification why not. 6 Please give details of information used, research and/or consultation undertaken to complete this Impact Assessment Information was gained from various sources including: Incident Reporting System (IRS) KFRS analyst reports EU Fire Fight Project Fire Services Emergency Cover Toolkit (FSEC) MOSAIC computer software (community lifestyle process tool) Freedom of information requests received KFRS user groups (including affected/non affected staff) Community feedback received following incident attendance. These data sources have been collated and analysed to develop options for change. These options have been assessed in terms of community/staff and organisational impact in order to identify the way forward. 7 Please identify any related policies and procedures which may also be affected by this Impact Assessment? None were identified. Any Other Comments or Observations None I have conducted this Impact Assessment and confirm that I have given due regard to equality issues in developing this proposal, and that any actions required to ensure or improve equality have been identified and addressed. Name: Signed: Management Team / Corporate Management Board approval All KFRS decision makers need to make sure they have sufficient information to sign off this Impact Assessment. The Impact Assessment must be taken into account BEFORE any decision is taken about this proposal. The legislation makes it clear that the responsibility for ensuring that the diversity impact has been taken into account in decision-making cannot be delegated. I confirm that I am satisfied that the diversity implications of this policy/ procedure have been given due consideration. Name: (Please Print)
Signed: Position:
PIA ACTION PLAN Title of Policy/Proposal: PIA ref no (HR Use only): Group(s) affected Issues identified Actions Taken /Planned Due date Date completed Action owner How and when will you evaluate the success of your action Date and result of review Name of Policy/Project Lead: AM Chris Colgan