Measuring Performance in Fire Prevention

By Jim Crawford
Published Saturday, April 23, 2011 | From the May 2011 Issue of FireRescue

For some time, many of us in the prevention field have been discussing model performance measures for fire prevention programs. It’s no secret that the measures apply for other injury-control strategies and that they’ve been around for a long time. But the timing seems right to update the terms and provide examples of how they may be useful in our field.

The motivation is simple: We have an obligation as public servants to provide evidence of the results we achieve. But there’s more to measuring performance than might appear on the surface. We can evaluate programs individually, but providing overall evidence of prevention programs to government accountants usually involves a different emphasis. However, the evaluation metrics for each approach are similar and even overlap.

 MEASURES.
Measuring prevention program success can be done in four ways; these measurements represent a continuum that starts even before a prevention effort begins and is used during and after the program to modify it or provide evidence of its results:

1.     Formative measures are used to describe the research that went into understanding the scope of the problem—who was involved and how to reach them. Example: Where are our fires occurring, to whom and why?

2.     Process measures are used to describe and monitor the progress of a program reaching its goals. Example: We planned to reach 1,000 homes in our service area with smoke alarm messages; did we?

3.     Impact measures are used to indicate that changes are in fact beginning to take place; they’re a little more concrete than process measures. Example: We reached the 1,000 homes, we installed 1,500 smoke alarms and six months later, a random check demonstrated that 95% of them were still working.

4.     Outcome measures indicate how well a program achieved its overall goals; they’re the most concrete and take the most time. Example: We monitored the 1,000 homes over a period of years and documented that the overall fire death rate had dropped because more homes had working smoke alarms and people were escaping fires.

There are many variations to these concepts and you won’t learn them all in one column. But it’s important to realize that we must ask ourselves why we are doing something in order to project the ultimate goals and objectives. We’re installing smoke alarms not to reduce fires, but to reduce the risk of fire deaths.

Asking Why
Fire and life safety educators do a better job of evaluating their programs than most others in the fire service. When others are measuring how fast they can do something, fire prevention personnel are often focused on the why. But we can still do better, and that’s why some of us are beginning to build a growing national database of examples of these measures and the concepts behind them.

Recently, at the Washington State Fire Prevention Roundtable, Deputy State Fire Marshal Lyall Smith provided an example of how the state Fire Marshal’s Office is monitoring its program for training and inspections of licensed-care facilities. It was evident to me that they had asked the question of why they were doing the inspections in the first place. It was not to do an inspection and count it. It was to identify and remove hazards—ultimately, to reduce the risks associated with those hazards in licensed-care facilities.

How then to measure the impact of that program, especially in light of serious budget cuts to the Fire Marshal’s Office? They realized that if they trained licensed-care facility operators on how to spot and remedy hazards on their own, they might reduce their inspections, their inspection times and ultimately the risks with as little effort as possible. They documented the impacts of their program of education and code enforcement to demonstrate an improvement in the inspection process.

After the trainings took place, overall hazards identified in these care facilities dropped by 48 to 50%. And fewer (as many as 36%) needed follow-up re-inspections. That helps with the bottom line—and provides a solid example of using these measures in the code enforcement world.

There’s always more to the story; every local fire prevention professional knows that. But if we don’t start thinking in terms of performance measurement, and providing evidence of our results, we’re going to be in even more trouble than we are in the current economic climate.

©Public Relation Education and Information-Fire and Rescue Singida

HISTORIA YA JESHI LA ZIMAMOTO NA UOKOAJI TANZANIA

Kutoka “Police Fire Brigade” Hadi

    “Jeshi la Zimamoto Tanzania”

·                    Sheria namba 14 ya mwaka 2007, chachu ya ufanisi wake

·                    Lanufaika na ushirikiano na JWTZ

Na Sgt.Hassan J.Mtengevu

Huduma za Zimamoto Tanzania Bara zilianza wakati wa utawala wa kikoloni mara baada ya vita kuu ya pili ya dunia mwaka 1945, ambapo kipindi hicho kulikuwa na kikosi kimoja tu kilichoitwa Police Fire Brigade kilichosimamiwa na Jeshi la Polisi.

Mwaka 1950 huduma hii iligawanywa katika makundi mawili ambayo ni Zimamoto ya Manispaa iliyokuwa chini ya usimamizi wa Manispaa, na Zimamoto Viwanja vya Ndege iliyokuwa chini ya usimamizi wa Idara ya Kazi.

Kutokana na kupanuka kwa miji, viwanja vya ndege na bandari, vikosi vingine vya Zimamoto vilianzishwa na kimojawapo ni Zimamoto Bandari chini ya usimamizi wa Mamlaka ya Bandari.

Mwaka 1982 huduma ya Zimamoto viwanja vya ndege iliwekwa chini ya Wizara ya Mambo ya Ndani ya Nchi, wakati vikosi vya Zimamoto vya Manispaa na Miji viliwekwa chini ya Ofisi ya Waziri Mkuu na Makamu wa Kwanza wa Rais, vikisimamiwa na Wizara ya Serikali za Tawala za mikoa na Miji.

Kutokana na majukumu ya Zimamoto kusimamiwa na mamlaka tofauti, ufanisi wake haukuwa wa kuridhisha, hivyo kuilazimu serikali kuangalia namna ya kuboresha huduma hiyo.

Mwaka 1985, Bunge la Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania lilipitisha sheria Na. 3 iliyoanzisha Jeshi la Zimamoto na Uokoaji ili kuifanya huduma hiyo itolewe katika nidhamu ya kijeshi chini ya Wizara ya Mambo ya Ndani ya Nchi

Katika kuendelea kuboresha huduma za Zimamoto na Uokoaji, mwaka 2007 Bunge la Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania lilipitisha Sheria Na. 14 ya Zimamoto na Uokoaji yani (Fire and Rescue Force Act) iliyoviweka vikosi vya Zimamoto na Uokoaji chini ya kamandi moja.

Sheria hii kwa kiasi kikubwa ilitoa fursa kwa Jeshi la Zimamoto na uokoaji kujipanga upya kimuundo na kuweka mgawanyo wa majukumu wenye tija, ili kurahisisha utoaji huduma ya zimamoto na uokoaji.

Sasa hivi jeshi la Zimamoto na Uokoaji linaongozwa na Kamishna Jenerali anayesaidiwa na Naibu Kamishna Jenerali, akifuatiwa na Makamishna watatu wanaoongoza divisheni tatu za jeshi hilo ambazo ni utawala na fedha, oparasheni na tawi la usalama wa umma na mali.

Chini ya divisheni hizi kuna vitengo vinavyoongozwa na Makamishna Wasaidizi, ili kutengeneza mfumo wa kiutendaji wenye kuleta tija katika utoaji huduma kwa jamii.

Divisheni ya Usalama wa Umma linahusika na kuzuia na kukabiliana na majanga kama moto, matetemeko ya ardhi, mafuriko, na majanga mengine pindi yanapo tokea pamoja na kufanya uchunguzi wa majanga hayo kubaini chanzo chake na kupanga mikakati ya kukabiliananayo.

Kupitia vitengo vilivyo chini yake, pia divisheni hii linahusika na kuelimisha jamii juu ya majanga ya moto na uokaoji, kukagua majengo, kuandaa na kutekeleza mipango ya kuzuia moto, kupanga na kukagua usalama wa ujenzi katika viwanda, vituo vya mafuta na kemikali pamoja na vituo vinavyozalisha gesi.

Kwa upande wa divisheni ya oparesheni, miongoni mwa majukumu yake ni kusimamia mafunzo, kukagua huduma za zimamoto na uokoaji kwenye kanda pamoja na kufanya tahmini ya madhara yaliyotokea kwenye majanga mbalimbali.

Majukumu ya divisheni ya Utawala, rasilimali watu na fedha ni kufanya utafiti na mafunzo, kusimamia uajiri, kuandaa na kutunza kumbukumbu za watumishi pamoja na maandalizi na mapitio ya sheria ya moto na uokoaji na kanuni zake.

Pamoja na muundo huo, Jeshi la Zimamoto pia limeweza kuboresha chuo chake ambacho majukumu yake ni kuendeleza na kufanya mapitio ya muundo wa Zimamoto na Uokoaji, kufanya utafiti kuhusu madhara ya matukio ya majanga ikiwa ni pamoja na kulinganisha matokeo ya ndani na nje ya tafiti hizo.

Chuo hiki pia kinatoa mafunzo yote kwa askari wa Jeshi hilo pamoja na mafunzo ya nidhamu kwa maafisa, sambamba na mafunzo kwa wadau majanga mbalimbali wote pamoja na wananchi kwa ujumla.

Pamoja na changamoto kadhaa zinazolikabili Jeshi la Zimamoto, Jeshi hilo kwa kiasi kikubwa limejitahidi kusambaza huduma zake kwa wananchi, kwa kweka vituo vya zimamoto katika baadhi ya makao makuu ya mikoa, wilaya na maeneo mengine muhimu nchi nzima.

Mafanikio mengine ni Jeshi hilo kuwa na ushirikiano mkubwa na vyombo vingine vya ulinzi na usalama, hivyo kuongeza wigo wa kiutendaji. Miongoni mwa matunda ya ushirikiano huo ni pamoja na Jeshi la Magereza kukubali kutoa mafunzo ya kijeshi ya awali, uongozi mdogo wa kati na uongozi wa juu ili kuwajengea uwezo wa kiutendaji maafisa na askari wa Zimamoto.

Kwa upande wa Jeshi la Ulinzi la Wananchi wa Tanzania, limekuwa karibu sana na Jeshi la Zimamoto na Uokoaji katika maokozi pindi yanapotokea majanga makubwa yanayotishia usalama wa watu na mali zao.

Kwa mfano tarehe 03 Desemba 1989 Jeshi la Wananchi lilishirikiana na Zimamoto na Uokoaji kukabiliana na moto uliotokea katika kampuni ya kusafisha mafuta ya Tazama Tank Farm Dar es Salaam na kufanikiwa kuuzima. 

Mwaka 2001 vyombo hivyo vilishirikiana tena kupambana na moto wa mafuta uliotokea katika kinu cha kufua umeme yaani cha TANESCO eneo la  Ubungo Dar es salaam na kufanikiwa kuuzima na kuokoa maisha na mali za wakazi wa Jiji la Dar es Salaam.

Maeneo mengine ni pamoja na ajali za MV SPICE ISLAND NA MV SCAGIT zilizotokea Zanzibar.

Ushirikiano huu umeenda mbali zaidi ambapo ili kuzidi kusambaza huduma za zimamoto kwa wananchi, JWTZ limeridhia kuruhusu ujenzi wa vituo vya Jeshi la Zimamoto kwenye baadhi ya maeneo ya kambi zake za Lugalo, Mabibo, Kigamboni, Mbagala na Gongolamboto.

Hii inatokana na Mkuu wa Majeshi Jenerali Davis Mwamunyange kwa kushirikiana na watendaji wa Jeshi hilo, kuwathamini watanzania na mchango wa Jeshi la Zimamoto kwa jamii.

Kwa hakika pamoja na kwamba historia ya Zimamoto inaonesha Jeshi hilo lilianza kwa kusuausua, kwa jitihada za Serikali katika kurekebisha sheria na mazingira ya utendaji wa Jeshi hilo na kwa ubunifu wa watendaji wa Jeshi hilo katika kuliboresha, leo hii watanzania wameanza kunufaika na huduma yake.

Kilichopo sasa ni kwa kila mmoja kwa nafasi yake kuhakikisha changamoto zinazolikabili jeshi hilo zinapatiwa ufumbuzi, ili kuliboresha Jeshi hili kwa rasilimaliwatu na vifaa hatimaye Taifa liwe na uwezo wa kukabiliana na majanga yanayohatarisha usalama wa watu na mali zao.

Imeletwa kwenu kwa hisani na usaidizi wa Cpl Ibrahim Luena.

©Public Relation Education and Information-Fire and Rescue Singida