• Coolstore explosion takes life of senior firefighter
• Bushfire Behaviour
• Smoke chaser strengthens allegiance
• Hoons continue to loose vehicles in Victoria
• NZ Police announce results of Employment Engagement Survey
• How will your communications network stand up to a major earthquake?
• IFSEC 2008 has Global Appeal
• Newly amended fire detection and alarm systems standard for Britain

Coolstore explosion takes life of senior firefighter

Firefighting is a risky job. No firefighter ever travels to a false alarm, even though they regularly come back from them, and some situations can take even the most senior of firefighters by surprise. A seemingly routine situation can also turn tragic at a moment’s notice, because there is never anything routine about a fire. This is something Hamilton’s Red Watch knows only too well.

On April 5th, Hamilton’s Red Watch responded to a fire alarm activation at Ice Pak Group’s dairy coolstore in Tamahere, on the south-east outskirts of the city of Hamilton. At 4.15pm, 11 minutes after the initial call was made, Red Watch had arrived at the coolstore, reported nothing showing and attempted entry into the building. At 4.29pm they gained entry into the building and a minute later a major explosion was reported.

Eight firefighters were in the line of fire when the explosion rocked the building. After the explosion, FF Cameron Grylls was still standing and found SSO Derek Lovell many metres away, seriously injured and unresponsive after being blown off his feet from near where FF Grylls had himself been standing. Grylls is a trained nurse and immediately began CPR, then a member of the public who had rushed to the scene took over CPR so Grylls could radio for help.

“It was just one of those calls that we get day in, day out, that turned to crap,” Cameron Grylls commented.

Due to the injuries sustained, all eight firefighters were rushed to hospital, with SSO Lovell and two others being admitted in a critical condition. Cameron Grylls was discharged shortly after admission with minor burns to his body. Sadly SSO Lovell died from injuries sustained in the blast. The other firefighters injured were Merv Neil, Dennis Wells, Adrian Brown, David Beanland, Alvan Walker and Brian Halford.

As news of the incident and SSO Lovell’s sad demise spread, condolences flowed in from around the world including brigades from the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Australia. It really shows at a time like this that all firefighters are brothers and sisters of the large firefighting family. The NSWFB also flew their flags at half mast in honour of their New Zealand colleagues. The New Zealand Fire Service also received a large number of enquiries from the public wishing to express their support for the families of those firefighters involved in the tragic incident and a fund has been set up by Westpac bank to go towards the on-going support of the firefighters and their families.

A funeral was held for Derek Lovell on the Friday following the incident. His coffin, on the back of a vintage fire appliance led a procession through the streets of Hamilton to the funeral, and thousands of people lined the streets to pay their respects. At the funeral, SSO Lovell was remembered as “Never a boss, but a mate.”

SFF Dennis Wells said during his speech that early on in his time at Hamilton, Dennis had to pull Lovell aside and say to him “Derek, when you are in Hamilton do not start a statement with ‘When I was in Auckland we used to do this’, that doesn’t go down well in Hamilton.”

All the injured firefighters except Merv Neil attended the funeral. Merv was undergoing a skin graft operation in Auckland at the time. Derek Lovell leaves behind his wife Millie, daughters Tiffany and Kayla, a loving family and a grieving fire service.

An independent team is currently undertaking an investigation of the Tamahere Ice Pac coolstore blaze which is expected to take around 90 days to complete. The report will cover the cause of the explosion and fire as well as the Fire Service’s response to the particular circumstances at the Tamahere coolstore facility and its management of the incident. A detailed forensic examination of the fire site is also being completed

“I have set up a team of experts to conduct a comprehensive, independent investigation into the explosion and fire at Tamahere,” said Mike Hall, National Commander/ Chief Executive, New Zealand Fire Service.

The investigation team includes:

• Dr Paula Beever, Phd, Director of Fire Risk Management, New Zealand Fire Service (investigation leader)

• Paul McGill, Director of Operations and Training, New Zealand Fire Service

• Steven Warner, President New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union

• Paul Henderson, former Chief Fire Officer of the Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service in the UK and current Senior Fire Officer, New Zealand Fire Service

The NSWFB (New South Wales Fire Brigade) is also assisting in the investigation.

“The NSWFB was asked by the New Zealand Fire Service to assist with its investigation and is sending one of our top fire investigators, Inspector Bob Alexander, to New Zealand,” NSW Emergency Services Minister, Nathan Rees said. “Inspector Alexander is a highly experienced fire investigator and his expertise in post-scene fire investigation will be an invaluable resource for the New Zealand Fire Service at this time.”

Inspector Alexander has 34 years experience in the Fire Brigades, 11 as a senior fire investigator with the Fire Investigation and Research Unit. He is nationally and internationally recognised as a leader in his profession and recently spent two weeks in Thailand training the Royal Thai Police in fire investigation. He has also assisted the Tasmania Fire Service in investigating the fire that destroyed the Myer store in Hobart last year.

“I have great confidence that this team will take all reasonable steps to bring the investigation to a conclusion so that we can minimise the risk of this tragedy ever happening again,” Mike Hall said.

Bushfire Behaviour

While the likelihood of bushfires diminishes in the southern hemisphere with the likelihood of winter, an important research paper has just been completed in Australia to determine the causes of bushfires, and more importantly their behaviour. The study has identified three factors that determine the behaviour of bushfires. These factors are fuel, weather and topography. If all these factors were known, it would be very easy to predict the behaviour of a bushfire and therefore make control of the bushfire an easy process.

Unfortunately while topography can be obvious and fuel load can easily be estimated, weather remains an unknown and unpredictable quantity, and it is this that causes the greatest difficulty in predicting bushfire behaviour.

The combination of these factors creates a dynamic entity. A small change in one of these three factors can cause very large variations in behaviour of the fire in a very short time frame.

When we talk about fuel with regards to a bushfire, we are not referring to accelerant or causes but vegetation. With this regard, it is not necessarily the quantity of vegetation present that is of concern but other factors. The factor that will have the greatest determinant on the fire will be the condition of the fuel. The fuel that is most important and of most concern is that which is on or near the ground but shrubs and even crowns of forest trees can contribute fuel to a high intensity fire.

It is commons sense really that a small tinder dry forest will burn far more quickly than a rain soaked one, but there are other factors which will also determine the size and shape of the fire. One of these is the size of the materials or fuel involved. Related to this is the type of fuel and arrangement. A fire in a forest of 100 acres can be less difficult to control than tinder dry grassland of only ten acres, because grass particles are fine and burn quickly. The fire rarely persists for more than 10 seconds over one spot but spreads quickly and responds rapidly to changes in the weather. A grass fire can travel at speeds of up to 20km/h.

Forest fires on the other hand are much more complex. They contain fuel particles that range from 1 or 2mm (that will burn very quickly) to large logs that burn slowly. The most important fuel determinant in a forest fire is how much litter is on the forest floor. Litter is the layer of leaves, twigs and bark less than 6mm in thickness lying on the forest floor. Forest fires spread relatively slowly, travelling at speeds of less than 12km/h and also respond more slowly to weather changes.

Quantity of the fuel in tonnes per acre is also a contributing factor. The amount and height of the fuel affect the intensity if the fire and the height of the flames. The lower the fuel load, the less there is to burn and the less intense the fire. The lower the fuel height, the lower the height of the flames will be.

The moisture content of the fuel is also very important. It is not just the moisture content of live plants that you have to think about but also the dead litter on the forest floor, this is called dead fuel. Dead fuel determines how readily the fuel will ignite and how completely it will burn. The dead fuel moisture changes during the day depending on temperature and humidity. The live fuel, or in other words live plants, has high moisture content, usually greater than 100 percent and is reliant on the flames drying it out before it will ignite.

As mentioned earlier, it is the difficulty in predicting the weather that makes a bushfire so difficult to predict. Weather not only has the potential to change a fire’s direction or ferocity but also to ignite fires and change the rate at which a fire spreads. It is not just the wind that has an affect on the fire, but temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric stability and effects of drought.

It is important when fighting a bushfire to constantly be looking for changes in weather patterns, and especially look for any weather fronts that can pass through the area, causing massive changes in the fire with potentially catastrophic effects. It can help to have some local knowledge too as places will have their own microclimate.

Some times someone with local knowledge can predict weather patterns for the area with a high level of accuracy because these microclimates may not vary as much as the overall weather pattern, or in most cases produce a certain outcome every time. These can be the result of a number of factors including soil type and location of major geographical features like rivers and mountains. For instance, during the fires at Jindabyne and adjacent areas it was common knowledge to local residents that the surrounding mountain range had the potential to change a westerly wind at the southern tip of the ranges to a south westerly and further northward along the eastern side of the range to a south easterly or easterly wind. This brings us to the third factor, topography.

A fire’s progress will be determined to a large extent by the lay of the land, and also other factors like soil types. Stony soils have the tendency to not only cause the ground temperature to be hotter, but also to dry out any vegetation growing in it faster. Peat soils can be particularly difficult to put out as they have the propensity to also fuel the fire and cause the fire to burn underground.

Slope of the land also has a major influence on the rate of spread, but all other things being constant, this can easily be worked out by a simple mathematical formula. If the fuel load and weather conditions do not change, the rate of a fire will double in its rate of spread for every 10 degrees of uphill slope and for each additional 10 degrees, the rate of spread will double again. Likewise for downhill slopes, a fire will slow down, with the rate of spread halving for each 10 degrees of negative slope and each additional 10 degrees of slope will halve the rate of spread again.

Knowing these factors can greatly improve your, and your team’s ability to control bushfires. Obviously it will never be an exact science as even with the best weather predictions, weather can sometimes change unexpectedly.

Thanks to CSIRO and Bushfire CRC for providing information. This is part one of Rescue asia-pacific’s look at bushfires. In the next issue we will look at trends in Bushfire Arson.

Pictures courtesy CFS South Australia

Smoke chaser strengthens allegiance

A Strategic allegiance between the Manawatu District Council and the Fire Service has been strengthened with the addition of a 4WD smoke chaser at the Himatangi Beach Volunteer Fire Brigade. The vehicle was formerly based at Manfeild as part of the council’s rural fire fighting resource, but it was felt it could be better utilised at Himatangi Beach where it would be ideally suited for many of the brigade’s callouts.

Assistant Western Fire Region Commander, Mitchell Brown, said the appearance of the smoke chaser at Himatangi Beach meant the council and fire service could now serve the community at a much higher level and in a much better way.

“The fire truck at Himatangi Beach isn’t really that suitable to be running up and down the beach – it’s designed for roads, not beaches,” said Mr Brown. “The smoke chaser, however, is better equipped to handle the range of emergencies in off-road areas.”

He said the smoke chaser would cover a ‘significant chunk’ of coastline and be able to attend incidents from Foxton Beach to Tangimoana. Himatangi Beach was the perfect location for it to be based.

“If the vehicle is required somewhere else in the district as part of the council’s rural fire responsibility, the brigade has the people who can drive it to that area and make it available,” he said.

Mr Brown said the smoke chaser was not a first-response appliance, “but if it’s the right vehicle for the right type of incident, and of benefit to the incident controller, then it can be made available simply and quickly.”

He said the vehicle would also enhance the brigade’s association and first-response support for St John in Himatangi Beach and the surrounding community. “It should round out the brigade’s diversity of emergency capability and better serve the community with appropriate vehicles, equipment and training.”

Ninety percent of the smoke chaser’s work is expected to be on the beach and through the sandhills, as well as in the Himatangi Beach community and back towards State Highway 1. The smoke chaser’s worth was realised only moments after the recent handover ceremony when it was called to a quad bike accident in Pine Forest behind the station. The rider received back injuries and was later airlifted to Palmerston North Hospital.

“The guy had fallen off his motorbike in the sandhills behind the station and the bike had come down on top of him. We had to carry him out on a stretcher,” explained Himatangi Chief Fire Officer Wayne Dear.

Accidents in the dunes are common in summer, and last summer was particularly busy with a lot more accidents involving people on motorbikes and buggies going along the beach. The new smoke chaser will be a welcome addition when dealing with these situations, cutting response times and enabling a vehicle to have access in close proximity to the accident.

MDC Community and Environment Group Manager, Lorraine Vincent, said the community would receive greater benefit if the smoke chaser was more effectively utilised rather than sitting in a shed for much of the time. She welcomed the chance to strengthen the relationship with the Fire Service as the two agencies worked towards ensuring greater safety for communities.

The 4WD smoke chaser donated by the MDC is a Toyota Hilux 4WD, which means that the driver doesn’t need a heavy trailer license to drive it. This is good news for a volunteer brigade short on members. Currently the Himatangi Volunteer Fire Brigade only has 13 volunteers, although they would like to have around 18.

Hoons continue to loose vehicles in Victoria

Many countries and states around the world are struggling with a growing number of hoons on their roads. Hoons are young males and females who drive their vehicles dangerously, fast and/or in an anti-social manner. In New Zealand, Britain and Ireland, the term boy racer is also used to describe these individuals although they are not all male, young or involved in racing. Generally they are drivers who drive cars often customised with spoilers, after market lighting, flared wheel arches, after market air intakes and by lowering suspension in an intimidating or dangerous manner.

Hoons not only pose a danger to themselves but also to other road users. The car modifications can have an adverse affect on the handling, oil or diesel used for burn-outs make roads dangerous for other drivers, racing at excessive speed at night puts other road users at risk and then there is the noise which terrorises some residential areas

In Christchurch, New Zealand the police and local city council tried to combat some of the problems by banning hoons or boy racers from certain streets in and around the city. This culminated when one night in retaliation for the police ‘shutting down’ a street favoured for ‘cruising’ text messages were sent around hoons both in the city and elsewhere calling for action. This resulted in a night of mayhem, with high speed crashes on suburban streets, bottles being thrown at police, intimidation of hotel owners and guests, and a major disruption to traffic flows. One of the busier avenues was brought to a standstill for two hours after some hoons poured diesel on the road.

As a result of the night’s activities, 20 cars were ordered off the road, 10 drivers were processed for drink driving and over 400 infringements were issued for a range of driving offences including excessive speed and noise offences.

Victoria in Australia uses a different method to combat the same problem. They have passed a law giving police powers to confiscate vehicles. Victoria Police impounded 2600 vehicles from dangerous drivers across the state in 2007, the first full calendar year of the operation of the hoon legislation.

Greater Bendigo led the state with 90 hoon offenders residing in the highly populated regional city, followed by Greater Mildura (44), Greater Geelong (43), Greater Shepparton (41), Hoppers Crossing (35), Frankston (35), Narre Warren (34), Melton (34), Greater Ballarat (33) and Dandenong (32).

Drivers who choose to exceed the speed by over 45km/h, engage in dangerous driving practices or street race against other motorists are amongst those who have had to stand by and watch their vehicle being towed away for an initial 48 hours.

Inspector Tom McGillian of the Vehicle Impoundment Support Unit said the figures served as a clear warning to drivers who might be tempted to do the wrong thing.

“This legislation has been active in Victoria for 18 months now and the message from police is simple – if you break the law, you will lose your vehicle,” Insp McGillian said.

“The ability for police to remove dangerous drivers from the roads immediately has attracted plenty of publicity so there should be no one caught in this situation who is surprised when the tow truck arrives. The public continues to be highly supportive of this legislation and police officers through out the state are confident using it and believe it has great benefits in terms of road safety. Ultimately it is about making our roads safer and reducing the incidence of road trauma and the road toll,” Insp McGillian said.

Vehicles were impounded across Victoria at a rate of 50 per week during 2007. The first hoon of the year was a 27 year old male from Pascoe Vale caught unlicenced and doing burnouts in a Holden Commodore in Fawkner at 12.10am on January 1, 2007. The final hoon of 2007 was a 19 year old male probationary licence holder from Keilor caught in a Holden Commodore doing 156km/h in a 100km/h zone in Keilor Downs at 11.50pm on December 31.

Inspector McGillian said the high number of hoons caught in 2007 was not necessarily reflective of an increase in hoon behaviour across the state.

“Victoria Police now has the highest number of police trained in the impound procedure in the short history of the legislation, making them authorised to take vehicles from offending motorists,” he said. “We have also worked hard in regional areas to ensure storage facilities are available for impounded vehicles so the legislation can be used there as well. Police in areas such as Bendigo have also proactively targeted hoon behaviour which has led to higher numbers in these locations.”

Analysis of the drivers of impounded vehicles also shows some interesting trends, said Inspector McGillian.

“Almost half of our hoon drivers are probationary license holders and 98 per cent are male. The legislation really targets those young male drivers, who are over-represented in our road trauma and fatality statistics,” he said. “This age group is more willing to take dangerous risks – risks to themselves and to others and this law enables police to take them off our roads immediately. We’ve also impounded vehicles registered in every state and territory in Australia, as well as international licence holders, so people who choose to visit Victoria and break the law are not exempt.”

“Comparisons between different towns and suburbs throughout the state can be difficult,” Insp McGillian said. “The figures for the larger regional centres such as Bendigo, Mildura, Geelong and Ballarat are always going to be higher than smaller towns such as Wangaratta or Torquay or metropolitan suburbs such as St Kilda or Heidelberg because of their greater populations. This doesn’t necessarily mean hoon activity there is greater or a higher proportion of offenders reside in these locations, and hoons are still more likely to offend outside their own communities. Many offences occurred in areas away from the driver’s residence, which allows police to strategically target these drivers in both areas and immediately take them off our roads if they’re behaving dangerously.”

Hoon offence statistics from 1 January to 31 December, 2007 are:

Time of impoundment

0000-0800 – 19.8%
0801-1600 – 26.8%
1601-2359 – 53.4%

Day of Impoundment

Monday – 11.3%
Tuesday – 10.7%
Wednesday – 10.7%
Thursday – 11.6%
Friday – 17.4%
Saturday – 20.2%
Sunday – 18.1%

Offences

Careless driving – 3.1%
Conduct/engage in race/speed trial 1.1%
Court order/past offence – 0.5
Drive while disqualified – 5%
Evade police/pursuit – 1%
Excessive speed – 39.3%
Failure to have proper control – 0.7%
Improper use of motor vehicle – 47.5%
Speed/manner dangerous – 1.4%
Smoke/undue noise – 0.4%

Age

16-17 – 0.2%
18-21 – 37.4%
22-25 – 29.8%
26-30 – 16.8%
31-39 – 9.8%
40-49 – 4.4%
50-59 – 1.4%
60+ - 0.6%

Sex

Female 2.2%
Male 97.8%

License Status

Disqualified – 2.4%
Full – 45.4%
International – 0.2%
Learner – 4.3%
Probation – 44.3%
Unlicensed – 1.9%
Not recorded – 1.5%

Speeds (when impounded for excessive speed offence)

Below 80 – 0.4%
80-89 – 0.8%
90-99 – 2.4%
100-109 – 5.5%
110-119 – 10.9%
120-129 – 14.9%
130-139 – 14.2%
140-149 – 12.3%
150-159 – 18.1%
160-169 – 10.6%
170-179 – 4.1%
180-189 – 2.7%
190-199 – 0.7%
200+ – 2.6%

Loss of traction (when impounded for improper use)

Burn out – 67.3%
Donut – 3.7%
Fish tail – 22.5
Mono – 4.8%
Wheelie – 1.7%

Vehicle Type

Most commonly impounded vehicle – Holden Commodore 837 (32.2% of total) followed by Ford Falcon 220 (8.5% of total)

Holden – 47%
Ford – 16.7%
Nissan – 9%
Honda – 4.7%
Toyota – 4.6%
Suzuki – 2.7%
Yamaha – 1.8%
Mazda – 1.6%
Kawasaki – 1.5%
BMW – 1.4%
Subaru – 1.6%
Mitsubishi – 2.6%
Other – 5.1%
Includes Lamborghini and Ferrari

“Hoon behaviour costs lives and police will continue confiscating hoon vehicles in the interests of road safety for all Victorians,” Inspector McGillian stated.

NZ Police announce results of Employment Engagement Survey

New Zealand Police have announced the results of the first round of an ongoing process to measure staff engagement and satisfaction. The survey, undertaken by The Gallup Organization, takes into account factors such as staff opinions on the New Zealand police as a place to work, staff satisfaction, and how engaged staff are to their work.

"The Employee Engagement Survey was undertaken as a part of police commitment to deliver on the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into police conduct," Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope said. "We are seeking to improve the way we do things and this initial survey provides us with a benchmark, or baseline, against which to measure our progress over time."

The overall conclusion by Gallup was that the needs of all employees are not being met in a way that provides for a strong and healthy workplace.

"The results were consistent across all parts of the organisation and provide a clear indication of where work is necessary."

Gallup found overall that half as many staff were engaged and nearly twice as many police staff were actively disengaged compared to the New Zealand working population; ranking police in the bottom quartile in overall engagement across clients surveyed throughout the world. Positively, very few staff, only one percent, were extremely dissatisfied with most respondents having a reasonable level of satisfaction with the police as a place to work.

"The survey was, and will continue to be, an opportunity for staff to have an honest say about what's working well and what could be done better within police," Mr Pope said.

Those things that rate best about working for the police included the collegial camaraderie, helping communities and catching criminals, variety and career opportunities. Those considered to be hindering staff in doing their best included a too heavy workload, a lack of staff and resources.

A separate Gallup survey of Criminal Investigation Branch staff undertaken in August as part of an agreement under the last bargaining round produced very similar results.

"The findings from the two surveys were closely aligned and thus provide an additional surety and validity as to how accurate the findings of the larger survey are," Mr Pope said. 

All staff will be invited to take part in the ongoing yearly audits with the process overseen by the State Services Commission with the next survey being conducted in August 2008. The New Zealand police are the first policing organisation in the world to have undertaken the Gallup survey.

"We are in new territory as the first policing agency to be audited by Gallup and it will be a powerful tool for driving and measuring change in New Zealand police culture over time," Mr Pope said. "The findings of future surveys will be used to plan and assess work designed to improve the working environment for all police staff. This won't be a quick fix. Other organisations have taken many years to get to where they want to be.”

Mr Pope said the current year's focus arising from the survey results was further dialogue with staff on how to ensure that staff had the materials and equipment to do their job, that they received recognition for doing good work and how they could better trust the organisation to be fair. He said it was pleasing to note that in recent external measures such as the Kiwis Count survey and the UMR Mood of the Nation 2007 survey police rated very highly.

"These external common measurement tools will give us further insights into the drivers of public satisfaction so that together with the engagement survey we will have very powerful insights into our services, how they are delivered and what we can do to further improve," Mr Pope said.

Methodology of the survey:

A random sample of 6700 police employees were invited to participate in the initial survey with 4880 staff members, both sworn and non-sworn, returning the questionnaire.

The audit consisted of 23 scaled questions. Of these, one was on overall satisfaction with the New Zealand police as a place to work, 12 were standard Gallup questions scientifically researched to measure employee engagement and satisfaction, eight were specific New Zealand police questions to monitor issues relevant to the COI recommendation and two were open ended questions to give staff the chance to express their views about working within the police.

In the CIB survey, 988 of the 1143 staff participated, an 86 percent response rate. Staff responded to a subset of 13 questions. This separate survey arose out of a separate process to the COI recommendations and will not be repeated but will continue to be a part of the survey as the results of CIB staff can be extracted from the main findings. The priority areas for CIB are defined as materials and equipment, recognition and staff having the opportunity to do their best every day.

The next survey which will be for all employees will be in August 2008.

Results:

The overall engagement, the degree to which individuals are involved and enthusiastic in their work, had a mean of 3.40 putting police in the 17th percentile of respondents. In order to be world class the police would need to have a mean of 4.21 or more. In overall satisfaction, which is used as a measure of the general impression of an organisation, the mean was 3.49 ranking police in the 23rd percentile.

The survey identified many areas of strength for police: staff are clear of what is expected of them; respect the professionalism and quality of their work colleagues; have a strong sense of camaraderie and collegial support; see their colleagues as ethical and acting with integrity; are treated with respect from their leaders; and are slightly more positive if female or from an ethnic minority

There were also areas identified as needing improvement these include: staff have comparatively low perceptions of the police as a place to work; staff do not believe they are equipped to do their work well; are not receiving recognition and praise for doing good work; hold little trust in the organisation to provide an environment of fairness for employees; and are not optimistic about the future of the police as portrayed by the leadership of the organisation.

Gallup was chosen for its independent expertise and reputation in the area of assessing organisational health. Gallup has been conducting organisational health surveys for many years.  In the last three years alone, Gallup has audited over 455 organisations, 538 working groups, surveying 5.16 million respondents representing 15 major industry types, collected in 124 countries using 45 different languages.

Commission of Inquiry recommendation 51 specifies: The Commissioner of Police should invite the State Services Commissioner to carry out an independent annual 'health of the organisation' audit of the police culture (in particular, whether the organisation provides a safe work environment for female staff and staff from minority groups). The need for the audit should be reviewed after 10 years.

How will your communications network stand up to a major earthquake?

BayCity Communications, NZ's IPSTAR satellite broadband service operator, says that the earthquake in Gisborne last year demonstrates that satellite communications will be a vital component in re-establishing communication links in areas isolated by natural disaster such as earthquake, flooding or tsunami.

An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Gisborne on New Zealand’s East Coast on December 20th, 2007. A damage bill for the city has been estimated at being NZ$35.4 million and the number of buildings needing total replacement was estimated at 23. Imagine if a similar high magnitude earthquake to the one that affected Gisborne last December severed a community’s telecommunications links. How long might business and emergency services be hampered – especially during the holiday season? Days, weeks?  How do you think you would manage without telecommunications access?

Imagine then if the fibre optic cables that connect your country to the World Wide Web were severed by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake. How would you cope then?

Last December a slightly stronger 7.1 earthquake off the coast of Taiwan severed six of Asia’s undersea fibre-optic cables and severely disrupted millions of Asians throughout China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Telecommunications companies were forced to divert services through satellite and unaffected lines. Many businesses suffered an internet blackout that lasted up to several weeks, while the lucky few suffered severely congested internet and phone services caused by the ‘technological aftershock’ that reduced communications capacity to as low as 2 percent.

Without satellite communications as a dominant or back up service, if an earthquake severed telecommunications links lives could be at risk without access to emergency crews.

Satellite broadband does not require any form of physical connection to deliver phone, internet or video conferencing links and can be powered from a small generator or vehicle. According to BayCity Communications general manager Duncan Boennic, satellite broadband offers emergency organisations and other business or home users a virtually disaster proof alternative form of telecommunications. 

"Satellite communications are less vulnerable to natural disasters than communication systems that involve landlines which can be severed by downed lines and falling trees  or radio towers (cellular and wireless) that may be downed or lose their power supplies. Traditional communications are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain – if one line goes down, it affects everyone on that line. If one tower goes, it affects everyone with line of sight to that tower, and the link to the next tower. If organisations have a viable alternative to terrestrial communications in place, then it is less likely that all systems will be affected at the same time by one event," Boennic said.

The value of satellite was demonstrated in Gisborne where BayCity Communications largest reseller Farmside reported that satellite broadband services continued to operate as usual.

Nick Cater, Sales and Marketing Director for Farmside said, “As long as the power supply to users was unaffected, they would have had no problem connecting to the internet or email – a great way to update concerned family and friends while land and cellphone services could have been overloaded. The mounts used to attach the IPSTAR satellite dish to a building carry a structural design rating of 1525 Pa, meaning the dishes are designed to withstand a factored wind speed of approx 180km per hour. This means that the equipment will generally be able to withstand most earthquakes where the epicentre is not in the immediate vicinity.”

IFSEC 2008 has Global Appeal

London, 28 May 2008. CMP Information is pleased to announce that 30,753* (subject to ABC audit) attendees visited IFSEC 2008, when it took place from 12-15 May 2008 at the NEC, Birmingham, UK. The world’s largest annual security event attracted visitors from a range of blue chip companies including ASDA, Barclays, Coca-Cola, Merrill Lynch, American Express, Next, DHL, Mothercare, Cadbury Schweppes, and Credit Suisse. Over 30% of the show’s audience was international, from countries including France, Spain, Russia, China, Japan, Italy, Australia and the USA.
 
“To achieve visitor figures like this is truly reflective of the show's global appeal,” explains James Blue, IFSEC Event Director. “IFSEC has a strong, dedicated team behind it who, together with pro-active exhibitors and a first class educational programme have been able to provide the industry with an event that really addresses the pertinent issues.”
 
As well as providing visitors with a wide variety of the latest products and services to hit the market, IFSEC 2008 also presented a comprehensive conference programme for the first time. The IFSEC Conference 2008 tackled the issues of border security, transportation security, surveillance and protection, major incident management and response, within niche, focused sessions for key industry sectors. Delegates had the opportunity to learn first-hand from the best of the security profession including:

• Rageh Omaar, Former BBC Baghdad Correspondent

• Mark Whittle, National Security Manager, McDonald’s

• Rae Jiggins, Chief Inspector, British Transport Police

• John Scott, Head of Security, Post Office

• John McDermott, Head of Security, Central Criminal Court

• Terry Scallan, Governor, South African Institute of Security

• Gerald Toms, Stadium Manager, Millennium Stadium

IFSEC 2008 also included a number of brand new feature areas including “A Day in the Life of a Smartcard” and the IP Innovation Centre. “A Day in the Life of a Smartcard”, sponsored by HID Global, was a first for the UK security industry and gave a hands-on view of all elements of RFID and smartcard technology in action across a range of market sectors and applications.
 
Run by IP integration specialists Universal Security, in conjunction with the CNL IPSecurityCenter™, the IP Innovation Centre offered “an adventure in IP” for installers and security managers alike. The area featured a specially commissioned installation of security systems to demonstrate how they can be networked via IP technology.

Feedback from the exhibitors at IFSEC 2008 clearly demonstrates the event’s success:
 
“Companies from all over the world were interested in our innovative product, IPSecurityCenter™, and we have a number of immediate prospects which we are following through. We were delighted to be invited to co-sponsor the IP Innovation Centre, which proved to be a tremendous success. The “adventure in IP” was extremely well received by a diverse audience. We believe that IFSEC will go from strength to strength and are delighted with the proposed format for next year. We have booked our space and look forward to a very successful IFSEC 2009.” Beverly Mann, VP Marketing, CNL
 
“IFSEC is our main exhibition of the year and is a major part of our marketing strategy. As well as getting good results, we always feel well looked after when we come to IFSEC.” Trish Bambury, Marketing Manager, Paxton Access
 
“This is the most significant exhibition for Seagate's video surveillance effort in Europe. The traffic to our stand has been great and we have seen a really high calibre of visitor. As a result, we exceeded all of our targets for the event - IFSEC has really delivered this year.” Robert Suu, Business Development EMEA, Seagate Technology.
 
The security industry celebrated its successes at the IFSEC Security Industry Awards on Monday 12 May at the National Motorcycle Museum. Acknowledging the people, products and technological advancements that have shaped the security industry over the past year, the annual Security Industry Awards are judged by a panel of industry experts.
 
British Security Industry Association Chief Executive, David Dickinson, comments: "Innovation is the very lifeblood of the security industry and this year's IFSEC award winners show that the future is bright for our industry. Individually, they demonstrate commitment to innovation and excellence and collectively, they show how vibrant and forward looking our industry is. All the winners are to be congratulated on their achievements and should be justly proud of the contribution they are making to our industry."
 
For the full list of winners, please visit www.ifsec.co.uk/awardwinners. 
 
IFSEC 2009 will take place from 11-14 May 2009 at the NEC Birmingham, UK and already promises to be bigger and better than ever before. For the latest event information please visit www.ifsec.co.uk.  Companies interested in exhibiting at IFSEC 2009 should contact Charlie Cracknell on +44 (0)20 7921 8069 or ccracknell@cmpi.biz.
 
IFSEC India 2008 will take place from 16-18 October 2008 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India, alongside new event, Firex India. For more information or to register for free entry, please visit www.ifsecindia.com

Newly amended fire detection and alarm systems standard for Britain

BSI British Standards have just published an amended version of BS 5839-1.  Principal changes made within the revision include:

• The need for the level of protection to be based on a fire risk assessment by a competent person is recognized

• The use of automatic fire detection as part of a fire engineering solution is recognized

• The use of new technologies, such as multi-sensor detection, is addressed

• New methods of fire detection, including carbon monoxide detection and video smoke detection, are taken into account

• A new section, devoted to the limitation of false alarms by appropriate system design, system management and improved technology has been added

• Recommendations for networked systems, particularly in respect of cable types, are included

• The code of practice has been simplified

BS 5839-1:2002+A2:2008 Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings. Code of practice for system design, installation, commissioning and maintenance

BS 5839-1:2002+A2:2008 provides recommendations for the planning, design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of fire detection and fire alarm systems in and around buildings, other than dwellings.

The term fire detection and alarm systems, in the context of this part of BS 5839, includes systems that range from those comprising only one or two manual call points and sounders to complex networked systems that incorporate a large number of automatic fire detectors, manual call points and sounders, connected to numerous inter-communicating control and indicating panels.

The term also includes systems that are capable of providing signals to initiate the operation of other fire protection systems and equipment (such as fire extinguishing systems, smoke control systems or automatic door release equipment) or safety measures (such as shut down of air handling systems, closing of oil or gas valves, or grounding of lifts).

For more information visit www.bsigroup.com/bs5839-1