Lorna Smith appointed fire safety manager at Acorn Safety

by Featured NewsPeople

Fire safety manager promotion at Acorn Safety

Acorn Safety Services has promoted Lorna Smith to fire safety manager, placing her in charge of one of the Northamptonshire consultancy’s three divisions less than nine months after joining the company.

The company announced that Smith joined in August last year as a senior fire risk assessor and will now lead its Fire Safety department.

Smith previously worked as a Health and Safety consultant for a large insurance company.

She shares her knowledge with colleagues who visit a range of buildings including fast food outlets and care facilities, along with offices, warehouses and public buildings.

Team structure and quoted response

Acorn Safety Services said two other specialists lead the consultancy’s Health and Safety section and Legionella division.

Smith said: “I am delighted to have been promoted to Fire Safety Manager.

“The Acorn Safety team has been so welcoming, and I enjoy the wide variety of work that we do.

“Keeping people safe and protecting life is the key factor in all fire safety work and I am proud of how well we do that.

“It has been incredibly busy since I started here and we’re now in the process of growing the fire safety division in order to effectively meet customer demand.”

Operations director comments on fire appointment

Acorn Safety Services operations director Zeynep Guzelkasap said: “Lorna has been an incredible asset to our business from the moment she arrived.

“Her knowledge and expertise are second to none and she embodies everything we look for in a fire risk assessor.

“She is conscientious, meticulous, and passionate and this promotion is wholly deserved.”

Pandemic support for ambulance service ends after completion of almost 1500 hours of work

by Projects

Firefighters in Northamptonshire will this week bring their programme of ambulance service support efforts to a close, having completed almost 1500 hours of work during the pandemic.

Since the end of April, on-call firefighters from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) have completed 146 shifts to support East Midlands Ambulance Service, amounting to just under 1500 hours of work.

Early in the pandemic, NFRS became one of the fire and rescue services asked to take part in work which included performing tasks such as driving Urgent Care vehicles and the safe moving and handling of patients.

Other services in the region asked to participate included Humberside, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

In total, 12 firefighters from NFRS took part in supporting the work of EMAS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

NFRS Group Manager Stefan Douglas said: “All the firefighters who have supported this work for EMAS have volunteered to take this on and it has been a huge learning experience for them, and a rewarding one.

“Although this was borne out of managing an extremely challenging situation, there have been positives in the work the organisations have done together. The individuals who took part in the scheme have been able to take back additional skills to their on-call stations and EMAS has learned more about our way of working too.”

In order to carry out the work alongside Urgent Care colleagues in EMAS, firefighters undertook specialist training to gain the skills needed to perform their new roles.

Michael Jones, General Manager for Northamptonshire at East Midlands Ambulance Service said:

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of our colleagues from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service during these unprecedented times, helping to support our staff and patients who need us the most.

“We already work very closely with NFRS through our Emergency Services Volunteers and so this extra support has built on the great relationship we have with the fire service.

“A big thank you to all who have stepped forward to help.”

NFRS Firefighters remain ready to resume their role supporting EMAS should the need arise.

www.northantsfire.gov.uk/