Why Your Company Level Inspection Program Is Failing [SPECIAL REPORT]

There are three primary reasons that a fire department’s company level inspection program may fail.

1. Unmet expectations.
2. Lack of support.
3. Inadequate training.

Unmet expectations.
When I hear the term “company level inspection program”, I envision a program that exists to support fire prevention functions, specifically to assist in the completion of fire and life safety inspections. However, this is not the generally accepted definition. “Company level inspection program” is also the title given to programs that are intended to educate firefighters on a communities structures and properties, create fire pre-plans, and improve community relations and outreach. Each of these is a worthy endeavor, however, each of these possess very different goals and objectives, personnel training requirements, and crew time commitment.

If the expectation of the program is to support fire prevention and assist with inspections, then a training focus on fire and life safety codes, application, and enforcement would need to be delivered.  These inspections require a larger time commitment and more thorough walk-through of a property. If personnel are examining a structure for code deficiencies, it is difficult to also be thinking about or creating the fire incident pre-plan.   

Pre-incident planning is typically a more general overview of a property, its access, protection features, and operational hazards. Firefighters are trained, or conditioned, from the academy days on items to look for.  They are already thinking about what actions they may take in a given fire scenario at a property. The only additional training that may be needed is that related to fire protection systems, special hazards, or documentation.

Firefighter awareness or community relations and outreach, could simply be showing up to a facility, meeting the key personnel, and touring the property. This level of involvement would require no training, time commitment could be as long or short as the company officer deems appropriate, and could require little to no documentation.

Lack of support.

Company level inspection programs that lack support of the community leadership and fire department administration are doomed to failure.  There has been more than one ambitious fire marshal who has set out to institute a program that has been widely accepted by line level personnel, but has failed. A successful program takes more than ambition by personnel, and vocal encouragement from leadership.  A successful company level inspection program will require real support by means of time, resources, and perhaps operational changes.

The most effective company level inspection programs are owned by departments that have a culture of fire prevention. Fire prevention, life safety, community risk reduction are made a priority from the top leadership all the way down through the organization. Without this culture of fire prevention the company level inspection program may struggle. Initially, time and efforts may be best spent on building a department with a cultural foundation of fire prevention and life safety.

Inadequate training.

The survey results revealed a wide range of training applications, methods, and length. On-the-job training and in-house programs were the top training methods for company level inspection programs. As a component of a training program on-the-job training (OJT) is a great idea. However, to be effective the OJT must be formulaic and structured. Often times, when fire departments refer to “OJT”, what they are actually talking about is experiential or legacy knowledge.  This is training where the twenty year veteran tells the younger department member how he does things or how things have always been done. There are multiple obvious problems with this. Different people have different perspectives and passions, and will share knowledge accordingly, additionally the information presented or methods used may be incorrect or obsolete. This level of “OJT” can result in lack of uniform training, or neglect of correct knowledge and best practice engagement.

Like OJT, in-house training should be an essential component of company level inspection program. The issue with this is that it varies from “house” to “house”. Survey results show that the time allotted to “in-house” training programs varied from 1, 4, 6, 8, 12 hours to half-,full-, or multi- day programs.  To be effective, in-house training programs must be structured and standardized based on departmental needs and objectives.

Training requirements go hand-in-hand with the two topics mentioned above, expectations and support. The goals and expectations of the company level inspection program must be clearly defined so that a proper training program can be created and implemented.  A single, initial training is not enough, on-going and continuing education and work review is necessary. Additionally, company personnel must have support from more knowledgeable and certified fire prevention and inspection personnel.

Learn how to build a successful company level inspection program with this special report.

The FPO Effectiveness Tool

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In my latest book, Fire Prevention Blueprint, I outline seven disciplines that are required for building an effective fire prevention organization. But, how can you rate your current level of effectiveness? To answer this question we have developed the “FPO balance wheel”.

The “FPO balance wheel” addresses each of the seven disciplines required for an effective fire prevention organization. This tool will help to assess where your organization is, and what areas need to be improved on to achieve maximum effectiveness.

How to use the wheel:

• Use the questions below as a guide to accurately rate yourself on each discipline. 
• See the center of the circle as 1 and the outer edge as 10. (1 is the worst, 10 is the best)
• Rate your organization on its effectiveness in that specific discipline, by placing a dot in the numeric range. Also, write the rank number beside the dot.
• After you have ranked each section with a dot, connect all the dots with a straight line. This new ‘shape’ is a visual representation of current balance in your organization.

Example of Completed FPO Balance Wheel

PRINT YOUR OWN FPO BALANCE WHEEL AND THIS GUIDE

Know Your Community

• Have you completed a CRA (community risk assessment)?
• Do you know the seven content areas that need to be assessed for the CRA?
• Do you know the specific risks and hazards within each area of your community?
• Do you know where to get data from and how to use it?

Have a Plan

• Do you have a specific and separate ‘operations manual’ for your fire prevention organization?
• Does this manual fully outline all the tasks and responsibilities of your organization?
• Do you have a strategic plan in place that effectively addresses the communities fire protection and life safety needs?
• Does your fire prevention plan accurately outline the programs and strategies that will be utilized to reduce, mitigate, or eliminate risks posed to the community?
• Is your plan or strategy made up of realistic and achievable goals?
• Have you created a long-range plan for the success of your organization?

Enforce the Code

• Are you currently conducting inspections in all buildings at regular intervals?
• Have you classified the occupancy risk of each structure?
• Do you know how many inspections are required annually, biennially, and triennially?
• Have you pre-planned your structures so you know the risks and hazards they pose?
• Have you established inspection frequency for all buildings?
• Do your personnel have the ‘soft skills’ necessary for gaining compliance?

Conduct Plan Review and Field Inspections

• Do you know the nine elements of effective plan review?
• Do your personnel have a clear understanding of the functions and benefits of plan review?
• Is your organization involved in the commissioning and integrated systems testing process?

Investigate Fire Incidents

• Do you have personnel in place to conduct fire investigations?
• Are company officers properly trained to conduct preliminary fire investigations?
• Are you maximizing the data gathered from these investigations?
• Are you familiar with NFPA 921 and the six-step investigation methodology?
• Are your personnel equipped with all the necessary tools to conduct a thorough investigation?

Educate the Public

• Are your public education programs interactive and engaging?
• Are your public education programs relevant to community needs?
• Have you built strategic partnerships with community stakeholders?
• Do your public educators know how to communicate effectively?

Be Adequately Staffed

• Are you tracking the time requirements for fire prevention tasks?
• Do you know the minimum number of personnel needed to accomplish fire prevention tasks?
• Do you know the five step system for determining minimum staffing needs?
• Are your employees appropriately challenged?
• Do you know why people want to work for you and how to keep them?

Review your balance wheel rankings for each section. After looking at your whole wheel consider the following questions for improvement.

1. List four things that this wheel exercise tells you about your FPO.
2. Did you rate the majority of sections as a 5 or less, or 6 or higher?
3. How many sections are 5 or less?
4. What areas do you want to most change or improve?
5. What actions do you need to take to balance out your wheel or make needed changes?
6. What resources will you need to make this happen?

PRINT YOUR OWN FPO BALANCE WHEEL AND THIS GUIDE

Seven Disciplines for Effective FPO's

The two biggest challenges faced by fire departments and fire prevention organizations around the country are budgets and personnel, specifically, having enough funds and personnel to provide essential fire prevention services.

How can a community build a functioning fire prevention organization? How can the organization prove its value? What programs and features should be offered? Where are the organization’s best efforts and dollars spent? How can the fire prevention organization, programs, staffing and budget be justified? The seven disciplines presented in the Fire Prevention Blueprint will address these challenges and can serve as a manual for the establishing, organizing and managing the fire prevention functions of a fire department.

But, the key to success in these situations, as in any emergency situation, is to have a plan of action, and just start working the plan. This book is that plan!

Whether you are taking over a fire prevention organization, you are creating a brand new organization, or if your existing organization needs to be restructured, the Fire Prevention Blueprint is your guide. Based on historical context, current needs, best practices, published standards, and successful fire prevention programs, this guide presents the seven disciplines that must be in place for fire prevention organization success. Following these disciplines will lead to an effective and efficient fire prevention organization.

Discipline can be defined as, "an organization’s responsibility to provide the direction needed to satisfy the goals and objectives it has identified." These seven disciplines are structured to start with identification and creation of the organization’s goals and objectives, and then the practical implementation to accomplish those objectives.

The seven disciplines outlined in the Fire Prevention Blueprint, are:

Discipline #1: Know the community.

Discipline #2: Have a plan.

Discipline #3: Enforce the code.

Discipline #4: Conduct plan review and field inspections.

Discipline #5: Investigate fire incidents.

Discipline #6: Educate the public.

Discipline #7: Be adequately staffed.

The object of this guide is to provide the framework and basic blueprint. The Fire Prevention Blueprint will empower you to:

• Identify essential fire prevention and life safety functions
• Understand how to utilize effective systems and processes
• Create a plan of action for building or restructuring a fire prevention organization

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Fire Prevention Blueprint

Attention, Fire Prevention Professionals!

Build an Effective and Efficient Fire Prevention Organization!

Create an effective fire prevention organization by:

• Identifying essential fire prevention and life safety functions
• Understanding how to utilize effective systems and processes
• Creating a plan of action for building or restructuring a fire prevention organization

Are you a fire protection professional - inspector, engineer, safety director, fire marshal, or AHJ - that is faced with the challenge of doing more with less? Are you tired of being reactive instead of proactive in your prevention efforts? Do you feel overwhelmed by the tasks that can never seem to get accomplished? Do you wonder if your team is focusing on the right functions and activities? Is your vision for your department unfulfilled? You need a clear plan of action. This is your action plan!

Identify the seven disciplines for effectiveness and efficiency.

    Based on historical context, current needs, best practices, published standards, and successful fire prevention programs, the Fire Prevention Blueprint identifies seven disciplines critical to the effectiveness of any fire prevention organization.

1. Know your community.
2. Have a plan.
3. Enforce the code.
4. Conduct plan review and field inspections.
5. Investigate fire incidents.
6. Educate the public.
7. Be adequately staffed.

Describe the key functions, features, and components of these disciplines.

    The Fire Prevention Blueprint  addresses the most important questions and highlights the major features of these seven disciplines.

• What are the key elements you must know and understand about your community?. 
• What is a strategy? How can you create one for your community and fire prevention organization?
• How often should you be inspecting the various structures within your community?
• Do you have a clear understanding of  the functions and benefits of plan review? Are you fully aware of your role on the building commissioning team?
• Do you know how to maximize the data gathered from origin and cause investigations?
• Are you providing the most needed, in-demand, and valuable public education programs? 
• Why do people want to work for your organization? How can you attract them? How can you keep them?

Apply practical guidance to implement each discipline. 

    Application of the Fire Prevention Blueprint will enable you to effectively establish, organize, and manage, the fire prevention functions of your organization.  You will be empowered to implement these seven disciplines by:

• Understanding where to get data from, and how to use it.
• Learning how to structure a fire protection and life safety strategy for your community, and form a long-range plan for your fire prevention organization.
• Properly categorizing facility inspections based on hazard risk, operations, and construction features.
• Building an integrated testing plan.
• Following a simple 6-step process for fire scene investigation.
• Knowing the 10-step process for selecting public education programs
• Learning the basic skills for public speaking and teaching.
• Applying Peter Drucker’s 3-step process for time management to your fire prevention organization.
• Following the NFPA recommended 5-step process to determine and justify staffing needs.

Utilize multiple tools, resources, and references for further study and application.

    The goal of  Fire Prevention Blueprint is to provide a basic framework on which to build your organization.  There is an abundance of resources available on each of these seven disciplines and their subtopics. The best tools and resources are referenced in this guide:

• Via footnotes in the text.
• A bonus annex section. 
• A website with direct links to all referenced tools and documents. 

It has taken me more than a decade in this industry to clarify this system for fire prevention organization operation. When I sat down to write this book, I simply wrote down the information I wish I would have had over ten years ago, when I started out on this fire prevention quest!

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How to Build an Effective Fire Prevention Organization

The fire service is an organization that has become known for doing more with less. Less tools, less equipment, less personnel, and less money. Many fire prevention organizations have too few dedicated fire prevention personnel to cover the many square feet of space or miles of geography within their communities. Fire prevention organizations are responsible for the tasks of life safety inspections, fire protection system inspections and testing, plan reviews, investigations, public education, and myriad administrative tasks. All this while also being expected to stay abreast of new technologies, code developments, legislative changes, and planning for the future of the fire prevention organization and its role within the community.   

This workload creates a reactive environment.  One in which fire prevention organization and personnel are functioning only to respond to the most emergent issue, “what needs to be done now”.  These organizations run the risk of being able to only accomplish the minimum required tasks, or less. These conditions can lead to critical fire protection and life safety issues that are allowed to develop until they become a major incident, which results in loss of property or worse, loss of life.

Fire protection professionals - inspectors, investigators, engineers, building safety directors,  the Fire Marshal - did not get into this field to barely get by, or to race to the bottom, or to just work to meet “minimum” standards, or “try their best”, or to do things “the way they’ve always been done”, to simply maintain the status quo. You entered the field because you had a vision to change your world or community by protecting property and saving lives from fire loss.

With the many tasks, responsibilities, and requirements of the fire prevention organization how can this vision be realized? How can the fire prevention organization and its personnel be best utilized to  ensure that they are functioning at optimal effectiveness? Can they know that they are focusing on the right tasks and activities? The solution is a clear plan of action that identifies and provides for the most effective and efficient methods for performing essential fire prevention functions.

With the right plan of action and a laser-like focus on essential tasks your vision for your community and organization can be realized. Your organization can be transformed from just getting by, doing the bare minimum, trying to stay “afloat”,  into a purpose driven, forward advancing, progress making, community changing, organization!

The Fire Prevention Blueprint is your action plan! This book reveals the seven disciplines of effective and efficient fire prevent organizations, and provides practical guidance and resources for their implementation. Fire Prevention Blueprint: Seven Disciplines for Building Effective Fire Prevention Organizations accomplishes this by identifying essential fire prevention and life safety functions, understanding how to utilize effective systems and processes, and providing the framework for creating a structured and organized plan of action.

Don’t let your community become the next mass fire casualty or large fire loss headline. Buy the Fire Prevention Blueprint and transform your fire prevention organization into your vision of what you know it can be!

For more information, resources, and to order the book, visit:

www.FPOblueprint.com