Posts tagged: IFSJ Influencer

‘The path ahead is complex, but with concerted effort, the future of fire and safety is bright and hopeful.’

As the National President of the Fire & Security Association of India (FSAI), I have witnessed first-hand the turbulence that pervades our industry—shaped by shifting market shares, stringent cost reductions, and a strong bias toward rule compliance over quality performance standards. Our challenges are many, not least the persistence of diverse assumptions in fire engineering solutions, which affect fire authority actions and field-level staff efficacy.

The evolving landscape of fire safety is marked by dramatic economic impacts, where disasters can leave families displaced and businesses devastated. The profession’s response necessitates adherence to a development path that prioritizes fire hazard identification, detection, measurement, and control with an uncompromising commitment to risk management.

Regional disparities accentuate these challenges, with economically underdeveloped areas suffering from poor awareness, inadequate infrastructure, and a deficit in professionalism and skill. Concurrently, there’s an urgency to adopt modern technologies over obsolete ones and a general impatience with the pace of R&D yielding safer, more innovative solutions.

The forecast is promising for the fire protection system market, expected to grow to over USD 109 billion by 2027, embracing advancements like flame detectors, smoke evacuation systems, halon alternatives, and water mist technologies. These user-friendly and eco-compatible innovations are setting new standards in automated fire protection, particularly for unattended high-value asset storage areas.

India’s fire market is responding to the push for safety with the rise of smart buildings and intensified scrutiny following fire incidents. The National Building Code of India 2016—Part 4, ‘Fire and Life Safety’—provides a robust framework for fire prevention and protection. Yet, with fire service as a state responsibility, there’s a discernible lack of uniformity in fire safety legislation across different regions, leading to a patchy safety landscape and exacerbated by urban congestion and insufficient fire station coverage.

Emerging sectors, including high-hazard industries, warehousing, transport, and densely occupied public spaces, are poised for significant growth in fire safety investment. Maharashtra’s recent bill mandating IoT-based fire systems for critical public infrastructures is a testament to the innovation uptake in safety measures.

Developments in standardization, such as the BIS harmonizing with ISO standards and accreditation of testing facilities like UL-JFL, offer a glimmer of hope. Yet, issues persist, including a disconnect between design criteria across international and Indian standards, under-specification of fire-rated cables, and a lack of effective pre-formatted checklists and trained personnel for system performance evaluation.

As an industry influencer, my vision encompasses robust growth supported by enlightened policy-making, innovation, and education. The FSAI’s Fire Suraksha Index (FSI) is a step toward empowering building owners with a tangible safety metric, promoting a broader culture of compliance and safety.

In conclusion, media outlets like IFSJ can play a pivotal role in this paradigm shift, disseminating knowledge, sharing best practices, and fostering a collective commitment to the safety of our communities. The path ahead is complex, but with concerted effort, the future of fire and safety is bright and hopeful.

About the IFSJ Influencer

Ajit Raghavan, with over 30 years in Fire, Security, and Engineering across Asia and the Middle East, has held directorial roles at Tyco and Nohmi Bosai. As National President of the Fire & Security Association of India, he shapes fire safety standards and currently leads Ramcro’s sales in Asia.

This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.

‘Becoming engaged with the team and allowing them room to develop is one sure way to build and strengthen the dynamic for success and the never ending road towards excellence.’

I have spent many years observing the plethora of leadership methods used by individuals as they clamber their way up the promotional ladder to aspire to the greatness that is embodied in the title of Chief Fire Officer or Fire Chief. Most of these methods have been carefully cultivated using a combination of guidance and mentoring from peers already undertaking a similar journey and from what can be taken from the many publications and literary masterpieces from the likes of Jack Welch, Patrick Lencioni and the internationally recognised father of all, Abraham Maslow.

Many of these up-and-coming officers place their faith in being able to adapt their persona to a particularly admired style whether it be from a colleague who has already achieved or is on their way to stature or from a publication which has been adopted by their organisation with many of its prophecies cut and pasted into PowerPoint presentations and used as an influencing tool.

Leaders in Fire Service circles are faced with many dilemmas whether it be directing movement and operations at incidents, motivating and encouraging performance improvements for skills or providing counselling and advice to team members in support of their activities to name but a few.

To do this they have to be engaged with those they lead and not be remote and unavailable for valuable enabling and direction setting. Leading by interface and engagement is far more productive than distant commanding and puts the leader in the center of the situation to provide that valuable advocacy. This philosophy works through all levels of the Fire Service organisation by each leader understanding the required mindset for effective engagement.

The leader who engages with their subordinates is the leader who understands the issues which affect the organisation through their people and can differentiate between the varieties of work and the messy reality of what is actually going on.

In my experience it is common that some less engaged leaders have a perception that work as imagined is an accurate reflection of what their teams are busy with in line with the work as prescribed. In fact, generally the case is that the work as disclosed ends up as the work as done and differs from the former which puts the non-engaged leader in a situation where whilst he thinks he knows what is going on, he actually doesn’t.

In practice, a leader who cares about and provides support to his teams is a people centric leader who sees the bigger picture and makes sure they understand what is facing their teams. Even if their style is rough and or abrasive the fact they appear to be interested enough in what’s going on provides the teams with confidence to achieve results. In the face of adversity, when stress levels are high during fire incidents a people centric leader has established trust and rapport with the team which fills them with the belief in their abilities to succeed.

This leader knows when and how to coach individuals and provide them with support and advocacy instilling desired levels of confidence to push the boundaries of accomplishment which in turn will lead to safe, effective operations resulting in saved lives, protected property and mitigation of damage by fire.

Of course, some may argue that this “touchy, feely” way of leadership may lead to lack of discipline or too much emphasis on how the needs of the team is put above the needs of the task. This type of traditional approach or autocratic style should have its place in leadership traits and values but in my opinion, which is based on experience gained over a number of years, this type of approach has produced much more successful results than a traditional observer centric leader.

One of the defining skills of a people centric leader is to be able to decide when it is appropriate to challenge his team both courageously and effectively. This skill is not found to be easy amongst many aspiring leaders but is essential to maintain both trust and reputation in the leader and to maintain positive motivation within and outside the team.

Nobody ever said the journey to successful leadership was easy, however, becoming engaged with the team and allowing them room to develop is one sure way to build and strengthen the dynamic for success and the never ending road towards excellence.

About the IFSJ Influencer

Sinclair Duffie, currently serving as Team Leader at Nawah since 2018, has a distinguished career beginning in 1983 with the Scottish Fire Service. He transitioned to ADNOC in 2012, focusing on incident response planning. A veteran with over three decades of experience, Duffie is active in the Middle East conference circuit and resides in Al Dhannah city, Abu Dhabi.

This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.

The Grenfell Tower fire highlighted failures in all areas of the UK construction industry, from building design to building approval. The UK’s reaction to the tragedy finds focus in the Building Safety Act which gained royal assent in 2022 but is only now coming into effect as rafts of secondary legislation are implemented. At the FPA’s recent FIRE Conference in London, one speaker stated that they hadn’t seen anything like it in 20 years as a practising solicitor and that it represented a ‘massive change’ to our previous approach. “About time too” many of us would undoubtedly agree.

As a result, a mass of reporting and registration requirements will come into effect, including mandatory reporting to a new Building Safety Regulator, mandatory registration of building inspectors/building control approvers, and mandatory registration of occupied high-rise residential buildings with the new regulator. The current situation – in which it is far too easy to set yourself up as an alleged expert without registration or qualifications – needs to change quickly.

The regulator will implement and enforce a new regulatory regime for residential buildings over 18m in height and will oversee the safety and performance of buildings; promoting competence among registered building inspectors. It will also set up committees on building advice and industry competence, along with a residents’ panel to shape its approach.

With their views having previously been overlooked, resident involvement should encourage adherence to new rules by increasing understanding, as resident adaptation of buildings – possibly well-intentioned but without appreciating the implications – can put lives at risk. The Act also rightfully eradicates the idea that residents/leaseholders should pay for historical safety defects.

Furthermore, the new national regulator for construction products within the Office for Product Safety and Standards will have the power to remove products from the market, and the Secretary of State will be able to place products on a statutory ‘safety critical’ product list. The testing conducted in recent years, and the use of products that are simply unsuitable in some scenarios, has shown how important this could be.

The introduction of the Golden Thread means that developers must create, hold, and maintain information so that the right people have the right information at the right time to ensure buildings are safe, and that building safety risks are managed throughout the building’s lifecycle.

The legislation references ‘managing buildings as holistic systems’, but my simpler take is that we need somewhere which contains everything (appropriate and proportionate) relating to the building; certifications, reported incidents, safety case reports etc. which is kept up to date, with responsibility clearly defined to ensure compliance and help gather data. The lack of information available from previous fires has been a significant barrier to progress so the building information required by the Golden Thread will improve our ability to learn from future fires.

Time will tell what impact the regulation changes can really have. Now the onus is on us to make better use of data to help the industry and government identify and respond to trends, and the Golden Thread is key to that journey at building level.

About the Influencer

David Williams is an experienced executive and non-executive director with over 30 years’ experience in insurance, having formerly held the position of Managing Director of Claims, Underwriting and Technical Services with AXA Insurance UK. He is a member of the FPA Board and between 2011-2022 was Chair of RISCAuthority, an annually funded research scheme which conducts research on behalf of the insurance sector and is administered by the FPA.

This article was originally published in the December2023 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.

Fire Chief for the City of Oakland, CA, Dr. Reginald D. Freeman, CFO, FIFireE, shares his views and predictions for the fire and safety industry for the year ahead

There is no question that the 21^st century fire service not only has its challenges but is equally well positioned for proactive leadership to leverage opportunities. As baby boomers continue to retire, not only are members of Generation X ascending to positions of authority but so are Millennials.

There is twice the number of Millennials in the world than Gen X’ers so that should not come as such a shock. What is shocking is our lack of preparation to pass the baton to individuals who are well trained, well educated but lack actual executive officer experience.

If we were proactive, we would have a five-year community driven strategic plan that included at least one goal, objective, and task that spoke to the need of having a robust professional development program (PDP). Designed for the members, by the members. Now, you cannot have a strategic plan that calls out a PDP and not also mention the need for a relevant succession plan.

 A professional development program, succession plan and strategic plan go together like a cheeseburger, French fries and a milk shake. You cannot enjoy one to its fullest potential without the other two. Having one on its own would be, ok but it’s just not the same. I call the utilisation of all three of these initiatives, “Tri-Advancement Planning” or TAP.

Addressing the retirements of current persons in positions of authority through TAP allows you to focus on the next challenge that we will face as a profession within the next 12 months which is decreased funding and consolidations.

Approval for capital expenditures will possibly be reduced which is why if you already do not have a codified 10-year capital improvement plan in the hands of your elected officials and or city managers, you need to make it a priority. By doing so, you will demonstrate that you proactively manage and will not have to gather the team to develop a list of priorities when city finances become strained, and your boss asks for it because they must determine what they will fund and will not fund. Oftentimes, proper and proactive management gets a vote of confidence, and you just may put yourself in the front of the line ahead of your peers because of it.

Lastly, in the next 12 months, persons in positions of authority from Lieutenant up to fire chief will be challenged significantly by things mostly out of our control. Because of the lack of funding, minimum staffing may be reduced which inherently will negatively impact morale. Fire chiefs will have to stand up for their members when city hall comes to reduce the budget.

Recruitment nationwide is at record lows which mean a lot of departments will be forced to implement mandatory overtime rules which again, negatively impact morale, health and safety as well as home life for our members. How do we address all these issues? Take all your arrows to the chest. Lead your members and put service over self.

About the influencer

Dr. Reginald D. Freeman, CFO, FIFireE, is the 31^st Fire Chief for the City of Oakland, CA. Prior to Oakland, Chief Freeman served as Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director for the City of Hartford, CT and Fire Chief for Lockheed Martin. He also served as a civilian Fire Chief in Iraq for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2004-2008. He has worked in many fire service capacities in his career including Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Fire Captain, Fire Service Instructor, Assistant Fire Chief, and Fire Chief.

This article was originally published in the November edition of IFSJ. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.