Posted By Graham Baldwin Having seen in the news in the past few days that the possibility of a fire brigade strike is becoming more likely I thought it might be of use to share information on how a company might modify its working arrangements in the light of reduced levels of fire cover. Apparently there are about 900 Green Goddesses in reserve that can be called upon to replace the 3000 or so Fire Engines normally available! and if the strike involves control room staff as well the usual efficient response cannot really be relied upon. I work in a Chemical plant and we have a small occupational fire team, we will initially look to train more people up to provide a more extensive initial response. We are in a fortunate position in that we have a core of people and have specialist equipment. What about people from other industries, what do you think you might do?

Posted By Paul Adams What might I do? Well, as a reservist and in the eyes of MOD, a trained fire fighter, I guess there is a fair chance I might get to drive a green goddess!

Posted By Roger Smith A strike may well take place in the very near future. Surely everybody's time is best spent on ensuring that steps are taken to reduce the likeliehood of needing the assistance of the Fire and Rescue Service in the first place rather than devising means to cope with an emergency situation without their help. Simple actions such as banning smoking, unplugging electrical equipment, postponing non-essential hot work, checking that smoke detectors are working etc. is far better than training inexperienced staff to tackle a blaze, however small.

Posted By Bob Pedley Graham, Blow the dust off your site emergency response plans, start running plenty of exercises, review your mutual response agreements with your neighbours, talk to the local fire service before anything happens, especially the union reps. (Simply call in your local station and chat to the lads). Crank up your permit system to provide additional cover on high risk jobs - or develop a discussion loop that says "do we really need to do this job?" I was a sub officer in the fire service when we had the last strike and although there was a lot of acrimony we did roll across the picket line when we received a "persons reported" call from the public direct. This was unofficial of course as far as the strike was concerned. Also during the last strike the officer's union NAFO did not join the FBU. Some NAFO officers worked to rule others directed the military teams. They also put in place and operated strategic plans to cover high risk plants. Suggest you talk to you local authority emergency planning officer to see if these plans are currently under review. Hope this helps Bob