Appendix A , item 39. PDF 1 MB - Greater Manchester Fire and ...

APPENDIX A
Operational
Assurance
Plan
2013-2014

Contents
Section 1 Introduction 5
Background
The Operational Assurance Assessment (OAA) Suite 6
Section 2 Assurance Activities for 2013/14
Allocation of OA Assurance Days 8
Flexible Approach
Assuring Operational Activities 9
Role of the OA Officer
Role of the Borough Officer
Assuring Core Activities 11
Borough Targets
OA Monitoring and ‘Dip Sampling’ 13
Assuring Corporate Exercises
13
Assessor Role 14
Developing Peer Review 14
Service Delivery Goals
Thematic Reviews 15
Debriefing Operational Activities 15
Level One (Hot)
Level Two (Tactical)
Level Three (Strategic)
2

Miscellaneous Assurance Activities 18
Online Incident Presentations
Fatal (and Possible Fatal) Incident Reports
Senior Accident Investigations
Demand Led Activities 19
Section 3 Identification and Management of Risk
Operational Assurance Risk Management Process 20
Safety Critical Events 21
Recording Mechanisms 21
Emerging Themes Register
Directorate Risk Register
Corporate Risk Register
Risk and Intelligence Manager
Operational Risk Control Group (ORCG)
Fire Authority Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee
Annual Governance Statement (AGS)
Review and Evaluation of the Assurance Plan 23
Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment 23
3

Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Annual Availability
Emerging Themes Database
Emerging Themes Process
Prioritisation and Management of Risk
4

1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority has a legal responsibility to ensure
that an effective Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) is provided across the city region.
To help ensure this legal requirement is met, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue
Service (GMFRS) undertake active and reactive monitoring across a range of
operationally focused activities undertaken by Borough based Officers and members
of a dedicated Operational Assurance Team (OA).
This Operational Assurance Plan for 2013/14 (the Ops Assurance Plan) sets out the
Operational Assurance activities to be undertaken during 2013/14. It does so by
adopting a ‘risk based’ approach to undertaking monitoring and assessment activities
and progressing the resultant outcomes. This approach ensures resources are
targeted in an efficient and effective manner in order to ensure:
a) The Service has a safe, well trained and competent workforce capable of
meeting the demands placed upon them
b) The Emergency Response element of the Service is effectively working
to achieve the purpose and aims of the Corporate Plan
The Ops Assurance Plan contributes towards achieving the following Delivery Goals
(DL):
DL4 Reduce property damage, economic loss and damage to the environment.
DL6 Ensure the public are highly satisfied with our services.
DL8 Maintain a high state of preparedness for emergencies, effective emergency
cover and a high quality response.
DL14 Develop and sustain a high quality, performing, effective, well informed and well
trained workforce.
DL16 Develop and maintain confident, capable leaders and managers, with low levels
of absenteeism, staff turnover and ill-discipline.
DL17 Reduce our carbon footprint, use of natural resources and deliver our services
in a sustainable way.
DL18 Develop and maintain a safe workforce with low rates of accidents and injuries
to our people.
5

1.2 Operational Assurance Assessment Suite
Development of the Operational Assurance Assessment (OAA) Suite
The Service has been undertaking formal monitoring and assessment of its
operational based activities since May 2005. In support of this work a comprehensive
suite of reports 1 has been developed and continually refined. The current suite
consists of:
i. OAA - Incident Monitoring Report
Provides assurance that operational activities are being undertaken in
accordance with standard operating procedures, policies and guidance.
ii.
iii.
iv.
OAA - Training Report
Provides assurance that Watch based operational personnel are
undertaking training in accordance with standard operating procedures,
policies and guidance.
OAA - Exercise Report
Provides assurance that activities undertaken during large scale
exercises are in accordance with standard operating procedures,
policies and guidance.
OAA - Station Report
Provides a comprehensive assessment of the standard to which a
range of ‘day to day’ station based activities are being undertaken.
Areas covered during a station assessment include:
Operational Preparedness
Training and Development
Planning and Preparation
Prevention Activities
Station Work Routines
Documentation / Administration
Health and Safety
v. OAA - Work Routine Report
Provides assurances that station based personnel are working in
accordance with the 'Policy Guidance on the Planning and
Management of Work Routines'.
vi.
OAA - Thematic Review
Thematic reviews are agreed with the Operational Risk Control Group
(ORCG), based upon areas of organisational risk and/or opportunity.
Completed thematic reviews are reported to the Leadership Team (LT).
1 This suite of documents is currently under review in order to provide refreshed key lines of enquiry
within each report
6

vii.
OAA - Peer Review
The Service is currently developing a Station based Peer Review
process to focus upon the outcomes from Service Delivery activities.
Specifically, this will review the performance of Fire Stations (and
subsequently the Boroughs) in meeting the purpose and aims of the
Corporate Plan.
7

2. Assurance Activities for 2013/14
l
2.1 Allocation of OA Assurance Days
The Operational Assurance Team (OA) consists of four Station Managers and one
Group Manager, led by the Head of Operational Assurance and Performance. The
core role of an OA Station Manager is to monitor and assess the operational
activities undertaken by Borough/Station based personnel. Examination of the OA
Station Manager rota identifies that each Officer is capable of providing a maximum
of 152 days, per annum, for this purpose. (Appendix A).
This equates to 608 ‘days of assurance’ against which, the team will deliver during
2013/14, as detailed within Table 1 below:
Table 1.
OPERATIONAL ASSURANCE TEAM
ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES
ASSURANCE DAYS
Total Assurance Days Available 608
1. OAA - Incidents Activities 120 2
2. OAA – Core Activities
( Station, Training and Work Routine OAAs)
3. OAA - Exercise Activities 30
4. Assessor Role 50
5. Peer Review Development 60
6. Thematic Reviews (x 4) 120
7. Operational Debriefing Activities 45
30
8. Miscellaneous Activities
Online incident presentations
Development of existing assurance IT systems
Fatal / Possible Fatal incident reporting
Joint Health & Safety/Accident Investigations
Dealing with underperformance
80
9. Representation at meetings (including preparation) 40
Total Assurance Days Allocated 575
Contingency for demand/risk led activities 33
2 Commensurate with the full team available to attend operational incidents.
8

2.2 Flexible Approach
As can be observed within the Ops Assurance Plan, the annual availability of the OA
is fully accounted for and allocated in accordance with a risk based approach to
setting priorities. This workload is subsequently reflected within the OA Action Plan,
which sets out ‘when and how’ the planned activities are to be undertaken during the
forthcoming year, including clear targets and milestones against which delivery can
be measured.
Whilst a notional allocation of 33 assurance days has been afforded as a
contingency for ‘demand led work’, experience has shown that the identification of
significant organisational risk (or opportunity) can occur at any time. Therefore, to be
realistic, the Ops Assurance Plan must retain a high degree of flexibility, thereby
ensuring OA can remain sufficiently agile to respond to any new developments.
Any variance from the activities contained within the Ops Assurance Plan should be
risk based and must only be implemented in full agreement with the Director of
Emergency Response (DER). Any variance will be captured and subsequently
reported as an element of the Emergency Response Directorate reporting process
and also within the Ops Assurance Plan outcome reports produced for the Fire
Authority Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee.
2.3 Assuring Operational Activities
Role of the OA Officer
A fundamental role of the OA is to support the achievement of the Service Delivery
goals. In pursuance of this requirement, OA members undertake the monitoring and
assessment of activities across a wide range of operational incidents including:
Any ‘make up’ incident*
Water incidents
Special Service Incidents that necessitate the mobilisation of either a Station
Manager or Hazardous Materials & Environmental Protection Officer (HMEPO)
All incidents where persons are reported to be involved
Road Traffic Collision incidents involving multiple vehicles or confirmed persons
trapped
Confirmed acetylene incidents
All fatal (and possible fatal) fires
Other ‘significant’ incidents
9

Additional benefits achieved through undertaking an ‘Incident OAA’ are that the
reviewing Officer is also afforded the opportunity to:
i. Mentor and support less experienced colleagues at the incident
ii.
Gather and provide evidence in support of the Maintenance of Competency
Records (MCR) process
iii.
Review the activities of relief crews to ensure incidents are being adequately
progressed towards a conclusion
iv. Ensure compliance with the Organisational Debriefing Policy (see 12.)
v. Capture images for use in the production of ‘Online Incident Presentations’
Based upon the 2012/13 levels of activity, each OA Station Manager has been
allocated 30 days for assuring operational incidents. (120 days total, assuming a full
establishment of qualified OA members).
*A ‘Make Up’ is a request for Fire Service resources, additional to those initially mobilised to resolve
an incident.
10

2.4 Role of the Borough Officer
When a Flexible Duty System (FDS) Officer is mobilised in the ‘Incident Commander’
role, they must conduct an initial assessment of the incident to determine if they will
assume command (take charge), or elect to undertake an observational/ advisory
role.
There is an expectation that any FDS Officer not electing to ‘take charge’ will
undertake an incident OAA, whenever practicable. This requirement does not apply
to any incident to which an OA Officer has been mobilised.
2.5 Assuring Core Activities
The term ‘core activities’ applies to a range of basic OAA reports (Station, Training
and Work Routine) that are primarily focused upon preparedness activities and
standards on fire stations.
11

2.6 Borough Targets
Responsibility for completion of core assurance activities has been devolved to
Borough level with a requirement that all Station Managers will complete an average
of one core OAA per month, set as an annual target.
Each Borough has been assigned a core OAA requirement, (see Table 2: Borough
Targets). This requirement is proportional to the number of Station Managers and the
crewing arrangements (e.g. wholetime, or non-wholetime), at the stations for which
they hold responsibility.
Borough Managers should adhere to Table 2 in order to ensure the required targets
are achieved and should aspire to remain within this target for each quarter. In those
cases where a target has not been achieved due to unforeseen circumstances, the
deficit is to be made up at the earliest opportunity and by no later than the end of the
following quarter.
The reporting process for completion of core OAA reports should form an integral
part of the respective Area Manager performance meetings.
Table 2: Borough Targets
Core Assurance Activities
BOROUGH
Number
of Station
Managers
Number
of
Stations
Number of
OAA Station
Reports
Per annum
Number of
OAA Work
Routine
Reports
Per annum
Number of
OAA Watch
Training
Reports
Per annum
Total OAA
Reports
per
Month
&
Quarter*
ANNUAL
TOTAL
BOLTON 3 4 7 12 17 3 (9) 36
BURY 2 3 5 8 11 2 (6) 24
MANCHESTER 7 7 14 28 42 7 (21) 84
OLDHAM 3 3 6 12 18 3 (9) 36
ROCHDALE 2 3 7 8 9 2 (6) 24
SALFORD 4 5 9 16 23 3 (9) 48
STOCKPORT 3 5 9 16 11 3 (9) 36
TAMESIDE 3 4 7 12 17 3 (9) 36
TRAFFORD 3 3 6 12 18 3 (9) 36
WIGAN 3 4 8 16 12 3 (9) 36
*Quarterly target shown in brackets ( )
12

2.7 Methodology Applied
The minimum Borough requirements are based upon delivery of one ‘core OAA’ per
Station Manager, per month (e.g. 3 x SM = 36 OAA per year) and consist of:
Two ‘Station OAA’ at each wholetime fire station, per annum
One ‘Station OAA’ at each non-wholetime fire station, per annum
One Work Routine OAA per watch, per year at all wholetime stations
(N/A for non wholetime)
The balance of OAA requirements make up the watch training reports
2.8 OA Monitoring and ‘Dip Sampling’
The volume of core assurance activities being undertaken across the Service makes
it impractical for OA to ensure that all assessments are being conducted to the
required standard. Therefore OA will undertake a five per cent ‘dip sample’ across
the full range of completed OAA reports to monitor compliance and provide quality
assurance. In addition to ‘dip sampling’ OA will undertake targeted OAAs in response
to concerns identified through the conventional environmental scanning processes.
To allow for completion of the required number of core OAA reports, administration
and oversight of the process and progression of related issues, OA have allocated a
total of 30 assurance days to delivering this aspect of the Ops Assurance Plan.
2.9 Assuring Corporate Exercises
The Operational Assurance Team will attend all GMFRS Service Wide and Large
Scale exercises for the purpose of undertaking the Exercise OAA. Where resources
allow, this activity will be extended to joint exercises taking place within neighbouring
Fire and Rescue Services.
These activities provide the Service with assurance that:
a) The required range of training exercises is being undertaken in accordance with
the Corporate Exercises Policy and Guidance Document.
b) Personnel are working in accordance with standard operating procedures,
policies and guidance within the training environment.
c) Learning opportunities are being maximised through support of collaborative
working and Peer Review activities etc.
To allow for completion of the required number of Exercise OAA reports and
progression of related issues, OA have allocated a total of 30 assurance days to
delivering this aspect of the Ops Assurance Plan.
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2.10 Assessor Role
All OA Officers are accredited auditors and provide an assessor capacity throughout
the year to support delivery of the Training and Development Schedule.
Typically such activities involve OA Officers assessing Incident Command abilities
during dedicated training events (e.g. high rise training), assisting with the
assessment of Officer incident command skills within the Training and Development
Centre simulation suite and during the Watch and Crew Manager development
courses.
In agreement with Operational Training Management, OA have allocated 50
assurance days to delivering this aspect of the Ops Assurance Plan during 2013/14.
This assessor capacity is reported within the Bi-Annual outcome report to the Audit,
Scrutiny and Standards Committee.
2.11 Developing Peer Review
To further improve the established ways of reviewing the performance of fire stations
in delivering the Corporate Plan, the Service is currently developing a Station Peer
Review process.
Once implemented, this process is intended to provide an internal means to monitor
how effectively our stations are achieving the ‘Service Delivery Goals’ and will
identify areas of weakness and highlight areas of good practice and/or excellence.
2.12 Service Delivery Goals
Service Delivery Goals underpin and support the strategic purpose and aims of the
organisation. Therefore the most logical and simplistic way of monitoring how
effectively stations are delivering against the Corporate Plan, is to consider
performance against these goals.
The ‘Fire Station Peer Review Process’ is intended to:
Form a structured and consistent basis to drive continuous improvement
within the Service.
Assure stakeholders that the GMFRS is discharging its services safely and
successfully.
Assist GMFRS to identify their strengths, areas for improvement, and
inform strategic improvement plans.
Be used as a tool to assist GMFRS in the identification and dissemination
of notable practice.
Be flexible in design, and simple in delivery.
It is anticipated that development of the Station Peer Review Process will form a
significant piece of work for OA and therefore a total of 60 assurance days have
been allocated to delivering this aspect of the Ops Assurance Plan during 2013/14.
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2.13 Thematic Reviews
Thematic reviews are based upon specific areas of operational risk and/or
opportunity identified within the Emergency Response arena, through utilisation of
the Environmental Scanning Process to review all available sources
A thematic review will typically involve detailed research and analysis of a subject
matter, in order to provide the Leadership Team with an informed report for due
consideration and subsequent action, as appropriate.
The identification of significant organisational risks (or opportunities) can occur at any
time and therefore a flexible approach is applied to undertaking thematic reviews,
thereby ensuring OA can remain sufficiently agile to respond to new developments.
OA will aim to undertake a minimum of one prioritised thematic review, per quarter.
The topic for each thematic review will be determined by the Operational Risk
Control Group (ORCG).
To allow for completion of four thematic reviews during 2013/14, OA have allocated a
total of 120 assurance days to delivering this aspect of the Ops Assurance Plan
2.14 Debriefing Operational Activities
Reviewing workplace activity is an effective means of improving performance and
therefore it is the aim of GMFRS to review operational activities on a regular basis.
The application of a robust debrief process provides the organisation with an
opportunity to learn from both successes and improvement opportunities identified
during operational related activities.
This activity is managed by the OA Team and achieved through ensuring debriefs
are undertaken following all operational incidents and training activities at which
improvement opportunities, or successes have been recognised. The OA Team is
also responsible for collating and utilising the feedback gathered through this
process.
15

There are three main types of Operational Debrief undertaken within GMFRS:
i. Level One (Hot) Debrief
Carried out at the earliest opportunity following conclusion of an
operational activity. Conducted either at the scene, or immediately upon
return to the normal place of work.
ii. Level Two (Tactical) Debrief
Undertaken for any operational incident or training event which has the
potential to raise significant learning opportunities.
iii. Level Three (Strategic) Debriefs
Strategic Debriefs provide a supportive and confidential environment in
which the performance of the senior incident commander can be discussed
openly. All Strategic Debriefs are coordinated and facilitated by OA and
focus specifically on ‘command decision making’.
GMFRS first formalised arrangements for debriefing operational activities in 2005.
The organisational approach has proven to be effective for a number of years in
providing a robust and credible method for the capture and collation of
incident/exercise outcomes.
In recognition of the elapsed time since the introduction of the existing practices and
in response to an accumulation of related issues on the OA Emerging Themes
Register, a review of the existing was undertaken during Quarter four of 2012/13.
The review found that the current level of ‘buy in’ from operational staff is viewed as
a significant area for improvement, as is the ‘closing the loop’ element of the current
procedures which presents some risk to the organisation through lack of awareness.
This also has the potential to stifle both organisational learning and service
improvement.
As an outcome from the review, the following recommendations for improvement
were agreed by LT at its meeting of 8 March 2013:
(i)
(ii)
Provide a more pragmatic approach to the completion and monitoring
of tactical debriefs, through the removal of the targeted (Quantitative)
approach and replace this with a more reasonable (Qualitative)
approach which focuses on developing a culture of learning.
Existing OA procedures should be strengthened to include active
monitoring and analysis of both resolved and unresolved issues, for the
purpose of informing the Emerging Themes Register.
To maximise the benefit of this resource intensive activity, the current
strategic debrief process should be refined to ensure the learning
outcomes are more effectively shared with a wider audience. This
should include more effective communication of the collective
outcomes by OA, in the form of a quarterly presentation to all
operational personnel.
16

(iii)
Development or replacement of the current electronic debriefing system
itself.
Progression of the review recommendations will ensure that GMFRS maintains a
debriefing system which remains ‘fit for purpose’ and justifies the considerable
resources being invested, through delivering meaningful outcomes and driving
service improvement.
Delivering these outcomes will form a significant activity for the OA and therefore 60
assurance days have been allocated to delivering this aspect of the Ops Assurance
Plan during 2013/14.
17

2.15 Miscellaneous Assurance Activities
As an integral aspect of the working day OA Officers undertake a range of
miscellaneous activities. Examples of some of the more involved activities are
provided below.
Online Incident Presentations
In performance of the role, OA Officers are ideally placed to capture images of
activities taking place at operational incidents and during training exercises.
Since the autumn of 2010 OA Officers have been compiling the captured images into
PowerPoint presentations which are shared with the Training and Development
Centre (TDC) and published on the BigRed, in order to provide feedback to
operational crews.
This process helps to ensure that experiences from incidents and training scenarios
are used to advise future practice, identify safety matters and to provide an
invaluable debriefing tool.
The incident presentations are now fully established and are proving to be very
popular with all personnel within GMFRS, achieving on average around 3,000 ‘hits’
per quarter, with 4,500 hits achieved during ‘Quarter 4’ of 2013/14.
During 2013/14 the OA Team will further develop this resource to include video
footage and to make a routine submission to TDC and the Incident Command
Academy, to assist with developing incident command competences.
Fatal (and Possible Fatal) Incident Reports
OA capture and report upon fire service actions taken prior to, during, and following
any incident where a confirmed (or possible) fatality has occurred. This procedure
was developed to supplement, rather than duplicate, the established fire investigation
reports and the Ops 17 Fatal Incident Details report.
The OA procedure seeks to determine:
i. Any previous GMFRS involvement – for example, any inclusion on a
vulnerable person register, details of prior Home Safety Checks, etc.
ii. The actions taken by operational personnel - incident response times,
adherence to relevant policy, initial actions, etc.
iii. Post incident activities – Home Safety Support campaigns, BeatSweeps
arranged, etc.
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The OA procedure is currently under review by the Prevention and Protection
Directorate as an aspect of the Significant Incident Policy.
Senior Accident Investigation
OA team members are required to attain the National Examining Board for
Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) qualification at certificate level and to
undertake the Senior Accident Investigator role.*
This ensures team members are adequately equipped to fully investigate all Safety
Critical events encountered and to furnish the Health and Safety department with the
requisite reports.
Demand Led Activities
There are many occasions where the OA (at the direction of the DER) undertake
short notice, demand led activities arising from identified organisational risk.
Examples of such activities undertaken during 2012/13 include undertaking joint
Health & Safety/Accident Investigations, conducting Turnout Trials, improving Ops
Alert procedures and leading on rationalising ‘Change of Watch Protocols’.
* The role of Senior Accident Investigator is currently under review.
19

3. Identification and Management of Risk
3.1 Operational Assurance Risk Management Process
The identification, capture and progression of risks to the operational function of the
service is pivotal to the role of the OA and supporting processes to provide this have
been developed over a number of years. Generally, the operational risks and
opportunities identified in line with OA activities fall into one of two broad categories,
namely ‘people issues’ or ‘process issues’.
People issues are typically simple to address and are often resolved at Watch,
Station, or Borough level.
Process issues on the other hand, tend to be more complex in nature, often requiring
for example, the revision of policy or procedure and thus cannot be resolved at local
level. Therefore process issues are collated by OA and progressed through to the
relevant department, directorate or forum for further action as appropriate.
In 2012/13 OA revised its risk management process to ensure it accords with the
Corporate Model.
3.2 Safety Critical Events
Occasionally during execution of the role, the OA Officer will observe an action or
omission that is considered to have potential to cause serious injury or severe
damage to equipment, or to the environment. Such occurrences are termed ‘Safety
Critical’ events.
All safety critical events must be challenged and where possible rectified
immediately. The OA Officer will, at the earliest opportunity, issue a ‘Safety Critical
Notice’ to the individual(s) concerned via their Borough Manager.
3.3 Recording Mechanisms
Emerging Themes Register
The Emerging Themes Register has been an inherent part of the operational
assurance process since 2005. The register is maintained by OA and acts as a
‘catch all’ for issues identified during the range of activities undertaken by the team
and through the environmental scanning process.
The register is under continuous review to ensure it remains current.
20

Directorate Risk Register
This register is maintained by the Directorate Risk Champion (Area Manager) to
collate the issues applicable to this level. The Directorate Risk Register is a standing
item for discussion at the quarterly ER Planning meeting.
Corporate Risk Register
The Corporate Risk Register is maintained by the Risk & Intelligence Manager (RIM)
and is owned by the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT). The register is utilised in a
range of meeting forums and reviewed by Members of the Fire Authority at the
quarterly meeting of the Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee.
Risk and Intelligence Manager (RIM)
The RIM is pivotal to the risk management process and has the responsibility for
reporting directly to CLT and the Fire Authority. The RIM has primary responsibility
for maintaining the Corporate Risk Register including the allocation of risk identifiers
in order to track and report upon the progression of a risk and associated mitigating
actions.
The OA undertake collation of all Operational Assurance Assessments and as a
consequence, are responsible for providing regular update reports to all interested
parties, generally driven by the individual meeting schedules.
Interested parties include:
Emergency Response Directorate (Quarterly Reporting Cycle)
Health and Safety Department
Directorate Risk Champion
Operational Risk Control Group (ORCG)
Operational Procedures and Equipment Forum (OPEF)
Corporate Leadership Team (CLT)
Consultation, Research and Assurance Group (CRAG)
Leadership Team (LT)
Audit and Risk Management, Wigan Council (Internal Audit)
Fire Authority Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee
Delivery against the activities set out within this Ops Assurance Plan for 2013/14 will
be reported to DER, in line with the scheduled quarterly meeting process and to the
Fire Authority Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee, as detailed on page 9 of this
plan.
Operational Risk Control Group (ORCG)
The purpose of the ORCG is to act as a cross-organisational control group to help
manage “risks” likely to affect operational activities. The ORCG work to effectively
resolve identified risks from a number of sources, including any unresolved items
arising from operational assurance related activities.
21

The Emerging Themes Register sits as a standing item on the ORCG agenda at its
bi-monthly meetings, where representatives from the key support departments work
to resolve or progress the key issues.
Those risks which the ORCG are unable to resolve, or where the issues are
considered to be beyond the authority of the ORCG, are placed on the appropriate
Corporate or Directorate risk register and communicated to the ‘Consultation,
Research and Assurance Group’ (CRAG) and Leadership Team.
ORCG maintain an action summary detailing progress against all identified risks.
This is communicated to the CRAG and Leadership Team for consideration at the
next available meeting and also forms part of the OA reporting process to the Fire
Authority Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee.
Fire Authority Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee
To ensure consistency of approach, OA reporting activities directly align with and
complement those utilised by the Internal Audit Service. In pursuance of this
requirement, delivery against the activities set out within this Ops Assurance Plan for
2013/14 will be reported to the Fire Authority Audit, Scrutiny and Standards
Committee in accordance with the programmed ‘timetable of meetings’.
Annual Governance Statement
OA will provide information to support assurance at this level and will report within
the Annual Governance Statement (AGS).
3.4 Review and Evaluation of the Ops Assurance Plan
The activities set out within the Ops Assurance Plan will be subject to continual
review so as to ensure they continue to meet with corporate expectation and satisfy
the objectives defined within the introduction to this plan.
3.5 Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment
An initial equality and diversity impact assessment has been undertaken and no
significant findings were identified.
22

Appendix A
Annual Availability
Operational Assurance Team Officer
Annual Availability (Theoretical Number of OA Days Available) 248
Annual leave (including public holidays) -37
Work in support of Corporate Goals* -25
Personal Development
Core skill requirements
‘One to Ones’ / PPR’s
-15
-4
Other FDS References
(Incident Liaison, Senior Accident Investigation, Hazardous Materials
Officer, etc.)
-15
Total days allocated to other activities -96
Total Days Available (Per Officer) 152
*Relates to activities undertaken in support of delivering Corporate Goals that are not a direct responsibility of OA,
but to which the function makes a meaningful and necessary contribution.
23

Appendix B
Figure 3: Screenshot from Emerging Themes Register
25

Emerging Themes Process Map
Appendix C
Emerging Themes
Register
ETR is
udated
A score is
assigned against
likelihood and
Impact
The ETR
multiplies
likelihood and
impact to achieve
a risk score
The subject
matter is identified
on four
occasions?
Yes
No
The issue is
retained on
the ETR. OA
continue
monitoring
Contents of
ETR
communicated
via usual
channels
Departmental risk
Register
Issue entered
onto
Departmental
Risk Register
OA Team
Link from
corporate
Risk
management
Process
Identifying officer
enters the issue
onto the ETR
The four risk
scores are
combined to give
an overall score
and compared
against the Risk
Scale
The risk
scale
determines
if the risk is
Low,
medium or
High
Operational Risk
Control group
The issue is
discussed at next
ORCG

Appendix D
Prioritisation and Management of Risk
The OA methodology closely accords with the Corporate Risk Management Process.
The Operational Assurance Team currently record all issues identified during
operational incident monitoring (those which attract a score of three or below) in an
Emerging Themes Register. The register collates these issues and displays them in
an overall reporting sheet (see fig1).
Fig 1: Emerging Themes Register; Reporting Sheet
During 2012-13 individual issues recorded in the Emerging Themes Register were
dealt with on an ad-hoc basis, for example, Standard Messages were communicated
to the responsible department through the Operational Risk Control Group; PPE was
address by a Safety Critical Notice and a PNR; Incident Command issues have been
addressed within the Incident Command Review, etc.
27