CongressThe FIRE Magazine/Gore Research Excellence Awards 2016 were presented at the Fire Related Research and Developments event held at West Midlands Fire Service Headquarters on November 15th.

Presenting the awards FIRE Editor Andrew Lynch described best poster award winner Bill Gough as a 'Fire Service legend' for his ground-breaking research on improving firefighter safety.

Main presentation award winners Geoff Spriggs and Leigh Blaney made the furthest trip of any of the presenters, travelling from British Columbia, Canada to attend. Their presentation on ‘Firefighter resilience: the journey from research to action’ was praised by the judges for completing the circle of research first presented in 2012 to show the practical application and benefits of theoretical research on the psychological wellbeing of firefighters, placing the Fire and Rescue Service in Canada at the forefront of maintaining positive mental health in the workplace.

See the January issue of FIRE magazine for a full report on the Fire Related Research and Developments event. The conference took place at the same venue, West Midlands Fire Service Headquarters, the day before FIRE’s Congress on Reimagining the Emergency Services, which will also feature in the January edition.

Gore Associate  Gordon Burns, said: "This is the tenth year of the award and we were delighted to see a record number of entries. The quality of submissions was consistently very high and the winner stood out as an example of a research project that has been brought into practice, delivering results for firefighters.  

"At Gore we are committed to supporting the development of new ideas and innovation in the Fire Service and over the last 10 years the Gore/FIRE Research Award has encouraged and promoted continued research in the sector, the results of which improve safety for firefighters and the communities they serve.”