The archive contains links to past news events and any other items considered worth another look
Download the Airport Fire Officers Association RFFS Medical & Fitness Policy Guidance Document here
Neil Gray (IFTC) has kindly provided copies of the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser (CFRA) guidance on BA Command and Control Procedures. These are the proposals for the review and update of TB 1/97. The copies attached were tested at the Fire Service College in March and we understand a couple of changes have since been made. There are a number of fairly significant changes proposed in these documents (including the incorporation of NICS, CFBT intelligence, IPDS role maps etc). The attached documents are only a draft at present and not accepted practice; therefore members should not take them as gospel, but rather a look forward to future amendments
CAA Proposes New Rules for Airside Driving:
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a consultation on a draft new Civil Aviation Publication (CAP) that includes recommendations and rules on airside vehicle operations, driver permits and driver training standards. CAP 790 may initiate the adoption of new driver training methods and technologies, including driving simulation, to improve competency based training and testing for operators of vehicles in the manoeuvring area and on the runway. Full details are available via CAP 790 Consultation page.
Vehicle Roll Over - The number of rollover incidents of RFFS vehicles in the last few years has caused concern to the industry and the regulator. It was decided to form a cross-industry group to review the vehicle rollover incidents and identify areas for improvement. The report can be downloaded here .
AFOA would like to thank the following people for the research and production of this document: Graeme Day – BAA, Owen Healey – Civil Aviation Authority, Bill Kitchen – Airport Fire Officers Association. Simon Webb – Civil Aviation Authority
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has recently identified the need for an Environmental Impact System (EIS) for marking fire fighting foams intended for aviation rescue and fire fighting (ARFF), leading to the establishment of an associated Qualified Products List (QPL)[2]. The purpose of an EIS marking scheme is to give end-users such as procurement departments working on behalf of airport fire brigades a completely objective and independent assessment of the probable overall environmental impact of a particular product in terms of both short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) effects.
Many thanks to Dr. Roger Klein MA, PhD, MB, BChir, CSci, CChem, FRSC, MIFireE for this article which can be downloaded here (it may take some time, this is a large file).
Your attention is drawn to the following Notal issued from the CAA Notal 2009 07 regarding NDA's. Any comments you may have regarding this Notal should be sent through the Contact Us page link.
- Download this PDF file on Generic Risk Assessment (GRA 4.3) - Information on Incidents Involving Transport Systems and, in particular Air Transport which has been developed by the local authority Fire Brigades.
The FRS Incident Management Command and Fire Investigation NOS are now out for consultation. Members are invited to feedback into the consultation by visiting the following website: http://www.skillsforjustice.com/FRSNOS
BCF - A proposed EU Regulation states that halons in crash rescue vehicles must not be used in new equipment and new facilities for the application concerned after 31st December 2009. By December 31st 2013 halons must not be used in existing equipment and facilities for the application concerned. After this date the fire protection systems or fire extinguishers containing halons must be decommissioned. The two document links below may be useful for those still holding BCF stocks. EU Halons Review EU Draft Halons Regulations
Information Paper IP-11 has recently been released by the Civil Aviation Authority. It deals with the Oversite of Training Providers. Click here for the link
For those members who provide training for Cabin Crew, please see the news item at the link here
The new Airport Fire Officers Association - RFFS Medical & Fitness Policy Guidance Document has now been published.
This guidance document has been put together to assist those that have accountability and responsibility for RFFS personnel in meeting and maintaining an acceptable industry medical and fitness standards.
Down load the document here
The Aerodrome Standads Department have issued the summary of changes to CAP 168 - Chapters 8 & 9 December 2008 version.
Download the powerpoint presentation here
The responses to the CAP 168 consultation have been published, click here for the link. The implications for the RFFS can be found in Annex Va at page 30. Visit the page Here
Human Factors - an article by Jim Bunting - To start a series of articles on the AFOA website, Jim Bunting offers this one based on a real life experience and a personal need to analyse the event. Jim is the Fire Service Manager and Training Officer at BAE Systems, Warton. He has been a member of the Airport Rescue Fire Fighting Service for almost 30 years. He has also been in charge of a local authority retained unit for 20 years. Jim has taken a fresh look at Human Factors and will be presenting it from his perspective in a series of articles. If you have an article you would like to publish on this site or share an experience with the association, contact us here. Jim’s article may be downloaded from this site by clicking here. If used for training or any other purposes, we would ask that you make direct reference to Jim and AFOA as the source. Your comments on this article would be welcome - email us here. You may also contact Jim directly at jim.bunting@baesystems.com To supplement the article you may also download an A3 poster here.
A project information bulletin was released in late December by the Fire and Rescue Sector Vocational Standards Group (FRSVSG) detailing their work on National Occupational Standards (NOS) and NVQ/SVQ's for Operations in the Community Level 3. Read it here There is also an opportunity to contribute to this review by reading and completing a questionnaire. Click here to download the document. The aviation representation on this group together with a proposed working group on Incident Command will be submitted to the agenda for the January AOA RFFS WG.
EASA has published its Opinion on Safety Regulation of Aerodromes on the web site:
Click here to view the document. You may also access the EASA Opinions website here, where the original Essential Requirements and Comment Response Documents can be found.
Dangerous Goods Emergency Action Code List 2007
The government has published an updated version of the above list. It is available for downloading free from the Communities and Local Government website. Follow the link here. This 2007 edition of the Dangerous Goods Emergency Action Code List deals with the application of appropriate Hazchem Emergency Actions Codes (EACs) and for the determination of the Hazchem markings on road and rail vehicles, registered in Britain, carrying dangerous goods in bulk or in tanks on domestic journeys.
This document supersedes the 2005 edition and is effective from 1 July 2007.
- The first news letter on Compartment Fire Fighting Training (CFFT) has recently been released and can now be viewed here
- The second news letter on Compartment Fire Fighting Training (CFFT) has recently been released and can now be viewed here
- The “Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board” have just published "Recommendations on the emergency preparedness for response to and recovery from incidents". Download it here. It's a large document so may take some time to load.
- Network Rails national emergency plan. You might find this document it useful in the development of your own procedures, as you’ll see there’s a great deal of information which should help in numerous areas. Download it here
The "Guidance manual for the procurement and whole life tracking/care of PPE"; is worth reading especially if you have never looked into duty of care for your employees. The advice given for procurement is something which can be expanded into the purchasing of any safety critical equipment/kit and if applied it will act as an excellent safeguard for you and your company should something befall one of you fire fighters. This is a “guidance document” to assist you as to what you should be thinking about with regards any PPE used on your respective sights, it is not a directive. How you obtain and care for your PPE is still your own individual responsibility.
This is a document produced jointly by JOIFF and DuPont and as such AFOA have obtained permission from them to distribute amongst our membership. Symon Clifford would like to thank the people from industry who were involved in the AFOA Clothing Standards Group for their time and effort on the project. Download it here
A new Guidance document for the Police and Emergency Services entitled 'Aircraft Accidents - Guidance for the Police and Emergency Services' has been published by the AAIB. Download it here (This is a 47 page full colour document so may take some time to appear)
From 1st of July 2007 virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces in England will became Smoke free. Go to the Smoke Free Website for information and legislation.