Kent Fire Brigade consults with the public about its service and the priorities for the future, making sure that we continue to meet customer needs and provide best value for money. Using data about how many fires the Brigade attends and where they are, we can now target particular areas of the county with specific fire safety campaigns. We are always interested in listening to your views and comments, especially if you are not satisfied with the service you have received. We have a policy of acknowledging complaints within three days and we deal with them as quickly as possible. Last year we received 74 complaints and 210 letters of appreciation.
All employers now have a responsibility to assess the risk of fire to their employees.
In practical terms, this means looking around their workplace, identifying the dangers and finding ways to remove or minimise the risks. The Brigade developed the events in association with the Kent Fire Safety Panel as part of the annual Community Fire Safety programme to help businesses in Kent understand the changes to fire safety law and the heavy fines or imprisonment for non compliance. A total of 451 delegates from a variety of businesses benefited from the workshops which provided a variety of learning opportunities to assist them in competently and confidently undertaking their legal obligations. Attendees witnessed the effectiveness of modern portable fire extinguishers in a controlled setting and analysed the potential life-threatening effects of rapid fire development through use of video footage of the Bradford City fire disaster. Having seen the consequences of fire, they were then asked to reflect upon their own fire precautionary arrangements and look at minimising the risk by adopting tried and tested fire risk assessment techniques.