EDITOR’S COLUMN
Troubleshooting the Retained Duty System is the theme of this month’s Risk Management feature and our contributors attack it from all angles. FIRE correspondent David Wright points to recruitment problems as being one of the crucial inhibitors to progress and calls for ‘outside the box’ thinking to move forward. With sufficient resourcing and commitment from government, he suggests that progress can be made.
Dennis Davis starts from further back, recalling the then CACFOA’s Retaining the Retained report and subsequent recommendations which have changed little. He reports that RDS recruitment is still running at 20 per cent below the required threshold. What remains constant, he says, is the remarkable commitment from retained workers and he contends that more must be done to support them financially and personally. Mike Fordham concentrates on the political barriers to change but points to the pay agreement linking pay to training and personal development as an opportunity to create a ‘safer and better paid workforce’. This equality needs commitment from all sides, he argues, to ensure true parity is reached. Tony Whiting, Oxfordshire, maintains much more needs to be done, from employer recognition and tax breaks to TV advertising, maintaining that the starting point should be consultation. To close the feature, Dr David Paton details the extensive work undertaken by Humberside, which must serve as best practice indicators for the whole Service. And finally… to encourage movement on risk management issues, this month sees a great opportunity for fire and rescue services to pocket a much needed £10,000! See pg 55 for Top Solutions’ unique offer.
Retained Duty System modernisation – no one said it would be easy
FIRE correspondent David Wright takes a detailed look at the Retained Duty System modernisation process
Remarkable people
Dennis Davis takes a broad look at the issues facing the Fire and Rescue Service in the light of modernisation of the Retained Duty System
Opportunity through parity
Mike Fordham outlines how his attitude towards retained firefighters has change since he first joined the Service, and looks at some of the issues around part-time workers that have come up in recent years
Retaining the retained
Oxfordshire’s Tony Whiting gives an account of the progression of the retained service in recent times, and what he thinks needs to be improved to take the service to the next level
The benefits of RDS modernisation
Dr David Paton, Humberside, takes a look at attitudes towards the Retained Duty System, and outlines how his county has put non-wholetime firefighters firmly on the agenda
Risk Management – are you really doing enough? £10,000 says you can do more
Top Solutions Business Development Director Mike Peet offers UK fire services £10,000 if they cannot find a solution to ‘their biggest risk headache’
Tall order
Laura Roper, Browne Jacobson, looks at the planning complexities fire authorities face locating mobile masts on station facilities |
