Equipment strategy

Our crews attend a wide range of incident types, including fires, road traffic collisions, rescues from water, height and confined spaces. They also support other agencies with issues such as effecting entry, and bariatric extrications. The equipment carried on our appliances and issued to colleagues is determined by the demands of such incidents.

Our ambition

Our equipment strategy supports our ambition to be an outstanding fire and rescue service in the following ways:

• By maintaining an inventory of varied equipment that enables our crews to address current and emerging risks within our community safely and effectively
• By ensuring the equipment portfolio is affordable and sustainable, providing long term value for money
• By actively engaging in research and development, with a focus on improving firefighter safety, working with industry experts and other FRSs to explore new technologies relating to fire service equipment
• By undertaking environmental and equality impact assessments when considering new equipment requirements

Where we want to be

During the life of this strategy, we aim to:

• Ensure continued operational effectiveness through our risk based equipment replacement programme

  All our equipment has a finite lifespan, often for safety reasons, and needs to be replaced as it reaches the end of its serviceable life

• Re-tender for an asset management solution

  The system licence for the current asset management system, RedKite, has 3 years left to run. Preparations will need to be made to re-tender for this system prior to the end of the current contract

Operating context and drivers for change

Our equipment, stock location, spares quantity, stowage options and replacement needs will largely be determined around the operational risk that lies within Nottinghamshire and the City of Nottingham. All our fire appliances currently carry a standard inventory of equipment, on the basis that any appliance can be mobilised to any type of incident.

All operational firefighters and officers are issued with uniforms and personal protective equipment (PPE) in accordance with the needs of their roles.

All equipment is subject to regular standard tests, prescribed by the Engineering team and designed to ensure that items are in working order and suitable for operational deployments. All equipment, including PPE, is subject to a rolling replacement programme, determined by a combination of statutory requirements, safety standards and best practice.

We will provide resilience to support business continuity with respect to equipment. Sufficient stock will be maintained or procedures will be in place to gain immediate replacement items as required.

Support from suppliers, based on service level agreements, must be in place to rectify most defects. This includes equipment replacement, for those eventualities where the equipment is beyond economical repair. We will always pursue warranty claims where appropriate.

There is an extensive legal framework governing the procurement of equipment and services. New and existing equipment must also comply with:

• National Operational Guidance (NOG)
• LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) 1998
• PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) 1998
• Equipment Manufacturer and Industry

Standards Strategic drivers for change include:

• The profile of the operational workforce is changing to be more diverse, and staff are working longer because of changes in the national retirement age and pension schemes. This places new demands and considerations on the equipment that is procured, such as weight, ease of handling/use, ergonomic design
• Consideration of contaminant management and decontamination, to ensure the health and safety of operational colleagues
• Minimising the environmental impact of our firefighting activities
• Improving efficiency and productivity through more efficient systems and processes and more effective use of resources

Resources/ delivery model

Our equipment services are managed by a small team based at JHQ, supported by our stores team based in Highfields station.

The Equipment team is responsible for the asset management system and processes. They play a leading role in the procurement and introduction of new equipment. They create and maintain the operational information notes for items of equipment, which document risks, operating instructions, standard tests and maintenance requirements.

The team undertakes much of the routine maintenance and defect management for equipment, and supplier management for those items maintained by third parties.

Delivering the strategy

Over the life of this strategy, we will deliver the following:

Outcomes

The successful delivery of this strategy will result in:

• Deployment of new RTC equipment and replacement gas monitoring equipment
• Improved productivity by implementing a new asset management solution