Training & Education - News

Australia is at a turning point in the national conversation about sexual harassment and gender inequality. To make sure these conversations turn into action, the Diversity Council of Australia is asking Australian CEOs to take the #IStandForRespect diversity pledge. Advancing gender equality AFAC CEO Stuart Ellis recently signed the pledge, committing to: Stand against gendered harassment and violence in all its forms. Take steps to address sexual and sex-based harassment, to make the wor...

A new guide that outlines the key updates relating to cable pathways has been launched by Legrand UK & Ireland, following updates to a number of key industry regulations. The guide – Creating Cable Pathways – follows recent updates to the IET wiring regulations, as well as the release of the Dame Judith Hackitt independent review of building regulations and fire safety final report. Current standards landscape It has been launched to provide electrical installers with assistan...

Fire Safety Bill receives Royal Assent and is an Act of Parliament, leading to major changes to fire safety in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. The Fire Safety Act 2021 provides the legal basis for meeting some of the recommendations from Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1 report. series of regulations The Act makes changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, known as the Fire Safety Order. It’s not the end of the process, as much of the cont...

£9.5 million fire safety framework contract will see social housing providers accessing suppliers to provide external wall certification and fire engineering services. The Peabody Trust is pioneering a tender exercise to help find suppliers who can provide external wall assessments for their own building stock as well as allow other social housing groups to use the same framework. safe and affordable housing The Peabody Group is responsible for 71,800 homes across London and the southea...

A Cambridgeshire fire officer is taking on a fitness challenge to raise money for The Fire Fighter’s Charity. Group Commander Simon Thompson has taken on the challenge of completing 44,597 press-ups, marking one for each member of staff who works for the fire service in England. Firefighters' Memorial Day He began the ‘44k by the 4th May’ mission on 1 December and will be completing the remaining press-ups on Tuesday 4 May (Firefighters’ Memorial Day) at Cambridge...

An electric vehicle (EV) crash in Woodlands, Texas has prompted significant scrutiny and calls for emergency personnel to be trained on the fire risks associated with high voltage, lithium batteries within EVs (electric vehicles). In response to the tragic accident that killed two occupants last week, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are reminding first and second responders that resources are available to help safely address i...

Congratulations to the many pubs, restaurants and cafes that have reopened for outdoor dining and drinking. Once again, we’re all adapting to a new normal – one where we eat, drink and socialize outside. But it’s not just the tables and chairs that make this new arrangement possible. As hospitality businesses know, public safety is vital, but not just in COVID-19 terms. Barriers in outdoor seating areas Many local authorities across the United Kingdom (UK) have accepted that...

Verint®, the Customer Engagement Company™, announces Verint Intelligent Virtual Assistant Professional (IVA Pro) Package™, a low-code conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) offering that can rapidly turn existing conversation data into automated self-service experiences. As part of the Verint Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) offering, the package allows business professionals to quickly deploy a production-ready chatbot to deflect calls and support customers. Verint IVA...

Rescu (Rescu Saves Lives), an emergency alert app that connects people directly to certified emergency dispatchers, has launched throughout the United States, in partnership with over 30,000 local emergency agencies. Rescu is the first and only Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) in a non-hardware platform. Rescu emergency alert app Unlike 9-1-1, the Rescu app does not require speaking to a dispatcher. With Rescu, users can communicate non-verbally to an emergency dispatcher. This means...

Delboy was only after a quick win, but there is a lot that can be taken from this scene in terms of recruitment and staff retention. Transparency is absolutely key, from both sides. It’s a fairly tough market in recruitment currently, so now more than ever transparency is key. With widespread redundancy over the last year, there are a lot of candidates who are accepting jobs that they wouldn’t have previously considered. This is likely to cause retention issues within 6-12 mont...

South Yorkshire’s fire service is asking people to stay out of the water this summer unless they are part of an organized open-water swimming group. The message comes as part of a national week of action, run from Monday 26 April to Monday 3 May by the National Fire Chief’s Council, in which fire services across the country are urging people to stay safe near water. reducing water rescues Firefighters hope that by joining forces and gaining the support of partners such as the Roya...

Court hears how a rail worker suffered severe burns as a result of a fire caused by health and safety breaches in an electrical substation in Kent. Recently, Network Rail pleaded guilty at Folkestone Magistrate’s Court to an offense under the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to protect the safety of staff. failure to maintain dehumidifiers The incident took place on 20 December 2018 after Network Rail failed, over a significant period of time, to prevent water from leaking into...

First responders are woven into people’s everyday lives and must deal with immense daily stress to keep society safe. Due to this constant exposure to life’s most extreme situations, this can cause exponentially larger cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, panic disorder, and other operational stress injuries than within the general population. Significance of Virtual Reality How to better prepare first responders for these situations before and after dangero...

The UK Government has published its second quarterly update on progress to meet the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations, highlighting the breadth of work taking place. In a useful development, the UK Government is providing thematic updates of the work taking place by the government, the London Fire Brigade, the National Fire Chiefs Council, and other bodies to respond to the 46 recommendations made by Sir Martin Moore-Bick in his Phase 1 report. update Key changes in this quarter include:...

Global fire detection and alarm devices leader, Argus Security (Argus), has appointed Giorgio Koursaris as its new General Manager, with responsibility for both - Argus and its UK sister brand, Hyfire. He joins at a pivotal moment for the well-known brand, which is about to embark on a series of new product launches that promise to revolutionize the fire sector. New General Manager appointed Giorgio Koursaris will oversee both commercial and production operations for Trieste-based Argus Gior...

During the first quarter of 2021, the R&D team worked with determination to develop several new products or product updates. As a result of this great effort, Global Fire Equipment is pleased to introduce the following products to their vast portfolio of fire detection products: OCTO+ Large Box (New) BUILT-IN-PRINTER (New) INT-TCP-WEB (New) NFC KEY (New) PHYSICAL KEY (New) EARTH BAR (New) MULTI IO

Columbia-Richland firefighters were able to get some training hours in using an old building on Midland Tech’s Beltline campus that is scheduled for demolition. The most recent ‘Acquired Structure’ session took place with CRFD crews during the week of April 12, 2021. Over the course of the week, firefighters were able to use the old engineering laboratories on campus to practice their skills in building search, vertical ventilation, forced entry, and other areas. The training...

Are the employees or community trained and prepared to use a portable fire extinguisher? FLAIM’s Extinguisher VR Training Solution resolves the challenge of training without real fire.  The fully immersive virtual reality solution enables the safety teams to train safely, train frequently, and train smarter at a fraction of the cost of nearly $5 per 30 min. training session! Passive classroom training Passive classroom training, with videos and lectures where students a...

Are users using e-learning, PowerPoint, or PDFs for training? RiVR Link enables a VR “Classroom in a Box“ solution for the fire industry. The RiVR Link “Classroom in a Box” solution offers instructors an interactive and engaging teaching tool for classroom education using 360° video and images. This allows for a multi-user capability, the ability to draw in real-time within the students’ headset, and to use their own 360° video/photo content or professional...

Fire detection equipment manufacturer, Global Fire Equipment (GFE), has been awarded EN 54-13:2017+A1:2019 system compatibility approval, demonstrating the company’s ongoing commitment to offering its customers best-in-class fire detection and alarm solutions. An international third-party accredited laboratory awarded GFE the EN 54-13:2017+A1:2019 approval for its entry level and high-end addressable fire detection and alarm systems. Various individual components EN 54-13:2017+A1:2019 i...

The decision by Southampton City Council to fit sprinklers in all its high-rise residential blocks proves right with yet another fire quickly extinguished.   importance of sprinklers Firefighters from the newly combined Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service were called to a fire in a flat on the 21st floor of a tower block in Southampton this week. The first crew was on the scene within three minutes and found that a cooker fire in the kitchen was already out on arriva...

The Fire Protection Association is among the first UK testing laboratories to become UKAS accredited for BS 8458 water-mist system testing. The Fire Protection Association (FPA) is delighted to announce it has been awarded UKAS accreditation to carry out fire tests on water-mist systems to BS 8458 : 2015 Fixed fire protection systems - residential and domestic water mist systems - code of practice for design and installation.  automatic fire suppression systems It is proud to be leading...

Vimpex’s new ClamBell® is an innovative, UK manufactured, fire alarm bell with a unique hinged design that swings shut after installation, which means it’s quick to install, aesthetically pleasing, and reassuringly reliable - setting it apart from other fire alarm bells on the market. ClamBell® is the first newly developed and approved bell to be launched globally in decades and the only fire alarm bell that’s made in Europe. It has been carefully designed to combine c...

In celebration of Sparky the Fire Dog’s® 70th birthday, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has announced the launch of Sparky’s Fire Safety Club and badging system on Sparky.org, the association’s award-winning website for kids. These new online features teach kids basic but critical elements of fire safety while rewarding them for their efforts as they go. “Making fire safety fun is critical to capturing kids’ attention and maintaining their ong...

Airborne International Response Team (AIRT), the 501(c)3 organization supporting Drones For Good™ for emergencies and disaster response has been awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to support drone operations within federal, state, and local public safety agencies and emergency services organizations. The grant funding will be used by AIRT’s DRONERESPONDERS program to help implement standard test methods for sUAS developed by the National Institute of Standa...

Fire and security specialist Amthal, is continuing on its ambitious growth plan to service more commercial customers, with dedicated appointments to the supply chain team alongside active recruitment for two sales account managers. Peter Lee has been appointed in ‘Purchasing Supply Chain’ to strengthen the commercial division of the business, enabling a more efficient approach to servicing new and existing customer requirements for fire safety and security. Constantly evolving regu...

A brand new, energy-efficient station for Barnsley’s firefighters is taking shape. The former three-story building on Broadway, Kingstone has been demolished and the steelwork for a new two-story, three-bay facility on the same site is already up.  Firefighters are being housed in a temporary facility off-site whilst construction of the new building takes place. energy-efficient spaces Director of Support Services - Stuart Booth, said, “We’re making really good pro...

Verint Systems (Verint), the globally renowned customer engagement company, has announced the lineup for its Engage21 virtual conference, taking place from May 19 to May 21, 2022, featuring inspirational speakers, including Barbara Corcoran, Charlene Li and Jay Shetty. This premier event will feature in-depth content, which is geared towards customer engagement and customer experience professionals, with more than 60 sessions, led by Verint experts, customers and partners, over three days. Shi...

Verint Systems (Verint), the globally renowned customer engagement company, announced the April speaker line-up that features how to power today’s evolving workforce of people and bots. Thought leaders will address new workforce management trends and challenges at SWPP, the Verint/Opus Research webinar series focused on customer engagement data and AI and analytics, how to modernize knowledge management for greater productivity and VoC strategies for better customer insights. In addition...

A fire investigation has concluded at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells, which was undertaken following a fire at the premises on Tuesday evening, April 13, 2021. The investigation determined that the cause of the fire was accidental. The significant fire was brought under control and extinguished by firefighters and rescue personnel belonging to the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service. However, effective fire safety measures already placed at the hotel helped contain the fire to th...