FPA moves Fire & Risk Management journal to a members-only digital edition

by Associations and OrganisationsFeatured News

FPA journal digitisation for members

The Fire & Risk Management (F&RM) journal has launched in a fully digitised format, available exclusively to members.

The Fire Protection Association (FPA) announced the online version is accessible via its website.

The digital edition includes integrated audio and video content.

It also includes advanced search functionality across all issues.

The FPA said the online edition includes a centralised hub where members can access feature articles, membership spotlights and news items from every issue.

Aisha Farooq, Deputy Editor of F&RM, said: “After over a year of planning, designing, and creating online content, we are thrilled to unveil this new digital experience for our members.

“Our goal was to make the Fire & Risk Management journal more accessible, interactive, and user-friendly, reflecting the way professionals consume information today.

“This is a significant step forward in our commitment to supporting fire safety professionals with the tools and resources they need to stay informed and resilient.”

Website accessibility changes

The FPA said it has added the Recite Me Assistive Toolbar to its website alongside the journal’s digital change.

The release put the figure at an estimated 1 in 4 people facing challenges online due to disabilities, learning differences, visual impairments or language barriers.

The toolbar is available across the whole FPA website, including the digitised F&RM journal.

The FPA said the toolbar includes screen reading support and reading aids.

It also includes customisable styling options for fonts, colours and layouts.

The release said it provides translation and text-to-speech, with on-demand translation into over 100 languages and 65 text-to-speech voices.

Ross Linnett, Founder and CEO of Recite Me, commented: “It’s inspiring to see the FPA leading by example in supporting online visitors.

“The internet should be for everyone, and by providing assistive tools online, the FPA is helping to create a more inclusive digital world where nobody is left behind.”

January 2025 special issue made free to access

The FPA said it has made its January 2025 special issue, Fire Safety Journey of a Building, freely available to access to mark the journal launch.

The release said the issue follows on from the FPA’s year-long Know Your Building campaign in 2021.

The special issue sets out a fire safety journey for a fictional tower called the WRaP building, described as a place for Work, Rest and Play.

The release said it uses the RIBA Plan of Work as a basis.

It is structured around building design and planning, the construction phase and use and ongoing maintenance.

The FPA said each stage is examined by experts from across the built environment.

Simon Brand, the FPA’s Editor and creator of the special issue concept, said: “Our fictional building – the WRaP – was born because we wanted to demonstrate that the journey to a fire safe building is one that begins at the very conception of a building, touches upon multiple roles and professionals, and runs throughout its entire lifespan.

“Each of our contributors helped bring this concept to life within their individual fields of expertise which enabled us to cover the building’s entire fire safety journey and illustrated how interlinked the stages to a fire safe building are.”

The release said upcoming issues of F&RM will cover AI and fire safety, suppression and research and testing.

OHEAP announces its membership in the Reset Group

by Featured NewsPeople

OHEAP has announced its membership in the Reset Group, who are a provider of compliance and contractor management solutions.

OHEAP Fire and Security has been a name in fire protection and security for over 60 years, specialising in a wide array of services ranging from fire extinguisher servicing and risk assessments to security technology.

By scanning a Reset card, other companies will instantly verify that OHEAP employees and contractors have the necessary skills and qualifications to complete work on-site, eliminating the need for extensive paperwork.

With Reset’s advanced site login system, contractors can easily check in and out. The system checks for expired licenses, permits to work and DBS checks ensuring full compliance with HSE regulations.

OHEAP customers can expect benefits from this partnership with Reset, previously a time-consuming and labour-intensive process, OHEAP now offer a streamlined solution designed to ensure that compliance and training is continuously met.

OHEAP become Reset member: Summary

OHEAP Fire and Security has announced its membership in the Reset Group. By scanning a Reset card, OHEAP will become verified to other companies that their employees and contractors have the skills and qualifications to complete on-site work.

Fire Industry Association launches CPD Certification Centre

by Featured NewsUncategorized

The Fire Industry Association’s all-new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certification Centre is an exclusive member-focused benefit affording the organisation’s members’ CPD sessions the FIA ‘stamp of approval’, in turn saving them thousands of pounds.

Members will now be able to have their CPD certified by the FIA as part of the cost of their membership. The FIA can host, market and manage all bookings for any sessions which have been certified by the FIA CPD Certification Centre. The FIA will then issue CPD certificates on behalf of its members to the delegates involved (the only proviso being that the CPD session must be hosted by the FIA). Importantly, data on attendees will only be shared with the member company delivering the CPD session.

The organisation is readily able to assess the technical content of CPD sessions and give them its stamp of approval or otherwise assist with bringing it up to standard. This enables the Trade Association to be able to assess any presentations which are submitted and also give the stamp of approval on its educational quality.

The FIA strives to do all it can to champion, represent and help improve the excellent advice given by its members to their customers and, indeed, the wider industry.  By checking and certifying members’ CPD, the FIA feels that this will be of massive benefit to all parties involved and also serves as a practical way in which to improve standards right across the entire fire industry.

By having the weight of the FIA’s technical and educational backing behind them, CPD sessions gain a level of credibility specific to the industry at which they are aimed. It also benefits end users (ie the target audience of FIA members) as they know that the CPD they are receiving has been checked and certified by the leading industry body, thereby giving it more value and credibility.

FIA members using its CPD service no longer have to pay fees to external generic CPD certification bodies who are not experts in the fire industry. This can potentially save companies thousands of pounds in unnecessary expenditure.

By making use of the FIA’s marketing ability and its extensive database of fire industry and related contacts, members can rest assured that their CPD sessions are being marketed directly to the right people and companies.

Crucially, the wider fire industry can also benefit from the FIA’s CPD Certification Centre as they become familiar with the online CPD process itself.

The certification process is a simple one. Members submit their presentation via e-mail to the FIA’s Technical Department for assessment. The presentation will be assessed against various criteria including (but not limited to) technical correctness, impartiality (there must be nothing product or company-specific) and educational quality, etc.

Once a session passes the assessment process and is certified, the FIA will enable usage of the FIA CPD Certified logo which can be applied to all certificates for that session.

The event is then booked in with the FIA’s training team and this will be added to the events calendar on the Trade Association’s website. Sessions will also be included in the FIA’s marketing releases and social media.