fig leaves

The newsletter of the Fire Information Group UK (FIGUK)

www.figuk.org.uk

No. 24
October 2002

Edited by Sheila Pantry, OBE
Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd

News from the FIG network

Forensic Science Service has moved....

Just to let you know as of 28th October Pam Evans - Forensic Science Service new telephone number will be 020 7840 2966; Fax 020 7840 2971. John Porter's will be 020 7840 2964, same fax number. Post to the same address as before 109 Lambeth Road, London SE1 7LP

Any ideas for future activities for FIG?

See the Minute No.2 of the FIG Meeting held on 10 September. One of the suggestions is to send someone to the Oklahoma meeting of InFIRE 2003.
Will be discussed at the 5 December 2002 FIG meeting.
If anyone has further ideas please send to sp@sheilapantry.com

FIG Members' Directory

Members attending the September meeting noted the alterations required on the web-site - these are being altered but other members who did not attend may wish to check their details on the FIG web site and send any alterations required to sp@sheilapantry.com

Note from the Fire Statistics Users Group

Stewart Kidd of the Fire Industry Confederation offered to present a paper to the next meeting of the Fire Statistics Users Group on 12 November 2002 on the current project in Scotland between Historic Scotland and Strathclyde and Grampian Fire Brigades. The aim of the project is to supply data to fire brigades in the form of a CD-ROM that can be added to fire service command and control systems to identify listed buildings and which could also be developed to detail points of special interest about a listed building. Stewart Kidd's offer was accepted by the group.

Ian Jerome and Sheila Pantry both attended the FSUG meeting.

News from around the world

Diary of Events

5-8 November 2002 - Expoprotection Fire 2002
Paris-Nord Villepinte (Hall 6) Paris France
Contact: Reed Exhibitions International | Tel: +44 (0)20 8910 7741 | Fax:+ 44 (0)20 8910 7749 | http://www.reedexpo.com

EEF's Managing Stress at Work

The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) has made available free online access to some good practice and practical actions that employers and managers can carry out to deal with stress in the workplace in "Managing Stress at Work" .

The EEF is the first organisation to provide this guidance free to all employees and employers and this move was endorsed by the UK Health and Safety Executive who provides a link from their website to the guidance.

The EEF's Managing Stress at Work guidance can be downloaded from www.eef.org.uk

News from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

Following on from the results of a recent user survey, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has redesigned its electronic newsletter - OSHmail which gives updates on European and international news on occupational safety and health to over 14,000 subscribers. Responding to requests for more regular information updates - OshMail will now be published on a biweekly instead of a bimonthly basis. Other elements of the redesign specifically tailored to user demands include:

New layout incorporating improved navigation tools: i.e. extra shortcut buttons to facilitate access to relevant areas of the Agency website
Increased language availability - OSHmail will be published in 5 languages (EN, DE, FR, ES, IT);
Language versions of news articles now clearly indicated.

Agency Director, Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, said: "Our survey shows that 40 % of the people involved in safety and health at work want more news about European and international developments. For the Agency, this is a clear indication that prevention nowadays cannot just be approached from a national or local level, but increasingly has to be seen in a European and global context. I hope that the redesign of the OSHmail news service will give people better access to the necessary information to make Europe's workplaces safer, healthier and more productive."

The latest edition No.12 includes the following items:

Accessing information on stress at work from http://ew2002.osha.europa.eu
Practical Advice for Workers on Tackling Work-related Stress and its Causes
Safety and Health Good Practice on-line for the Healthcare Sector
SME Funding scheme: VTT publishes a toolkit for risk management in SMEs
European Union News
TUTB newsletter: special issue on stress at work

OSHmail is published in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

OSHmail is the electronic newsletter of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and provides a regular update on European and international news on occupational safety and health. It can be accessed at: http://osha.europa.eu/oshmail

Further information:
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain | Email: information@osha.eu.int | Fax: +34 94 479 4383

Argus (R) 3 offers something different: thermal imaging camera

Introducing the world's most advanced Thermal Imaging Camera which is based on over 20 years of naval thermal imaging experience, E2V Technologies presents Argus®3 - the ultimate firefighting, rescue and engineering tool for maritime use.

The revolutionary Argus®3 camera serves as a vital tool for assessing and tackling fires on board vessels. Argus®3 assists in quickly locating crew and passengers for evacuation, and helps firefighters to rapidly identify the seat and spread of a fire for effective eradication and incident closure. The camera also serves as a valuable engineering tool, monitoring gearboxes, motors, bearings and pipe work for quick identification and elimination of hotspots.

Unique features, never seen before:

Argus®3 is capable of taking up to 15 photographs at the scene of a fire. Later downloaded to a PC or laptop for analysis, the images can capture vital forensic evidence before it is destroyed.

Argus®3's image capture also enables routine controlled inspection of vessel engine rooms for external auditing and equipment performance measurement, in compliance with SOLAS (safety of lives at sea) regulations, leading to cost reductions in engine and equipment management and safety.

New: Argus®3 thermal images are displayed on a 4-inch (100mm) colourised LCD display. Six colour settings allow the user to set their own preference.

E2V Technologies, Formerly Marconi Applied Technologies is a technology innovator and market leader in RF microwave, imaging components, gas sensors and subsystems for the industrial, defence, automotive, medical, scientific and broadcast communications market sectors.

E2V Technologies has operations in the UK, USA, Germany and France, and has established a network of agents and distributors covering the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Far East and Australia.

Sales Office Contact:
David Hinds, E2V Technologies, 106 Waterhouse Lane, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 2QU | Tel: +44(0)1245 453466 | Fax: +44 (0)1245 453 324 | david.hinds@e2vtechnologies.com | www.e2v.com

Fire Worldwide ...... continues to expand

After the November 2002 edition, FIRE-CD ceases to be produced by the co-publishers OVID and The Stationery Office, using the SilverPlatter software format.

It is important that authoritative information on fire and fire prevention is readily available.

FIRE Worldwide, published by Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd., is available on subscription at a price of £510 for standalone use, and is accessible via Internet or on CD-ROM.
Fire Worldwide uses the powerful SilverPlatter software, and is updated quarterly.
Fire Worldwide is a premier collection of validated, authoritative information and contains two major collections - the Full Text Collection and the Bibliographic Collection.
The Bibliographic Collection has 7 databases which contain over 235,000 records to journal articles, guidance and advice, circulars, reports, conference proceedings, research reports, statistics and codes of practice from worldwide sources. The databases are produced by well known worldwide organisations. One of the databases - from the British Standards Institution contains references to over 2500 fire and fire related standards.
The Full text Collection has 4 major databases which contain full text documents, many of them not included in FIRE-CD, are continually being added to this wide-ranging source of critical fire information. The collection contains all appropriate European and UK legislation for fire and fire related industry - some hundreds of documents, and there is a growing collection of statistical information. In addition the Full text Collection has a range documents from organisations such as:
- The UK Fire Protection Association
- World Fire Statistics Bureau
- CTIF - The International Committee for the Prevention and Extinction of Fire
- The UK Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions
- US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
- UK Health and Safety Executive
- Ireland Department of the Environment Fire Safety

Used by organisations worldwide, Fire Worldwide is set to expand still further! For full details of this product, please check out the list of contents of Fire Worldwide on www.sheilapantry.com

To take a free 30-day trial of Fire Worldwide - either via the Internet or on CD-ROM, please contact:
Safety Chemical Services Ltd, Broad Oak Enterprise Village, Broad Oak Road, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8AQ, UK | Tel: +44 (0)1795 435 899 | Fax: +44 (0) 1795 435 901 | Email: info@safchem.co.uk
or direct to Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd details below.

Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd are committed to maintaining and expanding Fire Worldwide which is arguably the world's best collection for fire and fire related information

THE FIRE SERVICE COLLEGE RESEARCH EVENT 2002 - RE02

Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 November 2002

The event - the seventh in the series begun in 1996 - is designed to bring together an audience drawn from the Fire Service, the Fire Industry, the Research Community and any area of the private or public sectors with "safety critical" concerns. Two broad areas of research will be covered:

Fire Engineering and Technology (including biological and physical sciences)
Command and Management (including behavioural & social sciences, history & law)

The draft format of the meeting is as follows;

**Wednesday, 20 November 2002**
10.30	Registration
11.00	First session in plenary with keynote papers plus parallel session
13.00	Lunch
14.00	Parallel Sessions (including break for refreshments)
17.30	Break
18.30	Buffet
20.00	Invited Speaker; representative from the Institution of Fire Engineers

**Thursday, 21 November 2002**
09.00	Poster Session (refreshments available mid morning)
11.00	Parallel Sessions
13.00	Lunch
14.00	Plenary Session
16.00	Tea and close.

We are pleased to announce that the Invited Speaker to give the Key Note Address on Wednesday evening will be a representative from the Institution of Fire Engineers. We look forward to hearing their reflections on research priorities in relation to problems and issues which the Fire Fire Service has to face.

For more details look at the FSC website www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk or contact:
Event Co-ordinator - Dr Anne Eyre, Trauma Training, P O Box 2590 Leamington Spa, Warks CV31 1GQ | E-mail to anne.eyre@traumatraining.com | Tel: +44(0)1926 427939 or 07773 894675

Titles you may have missed........

Designing against Terrorism: Guidance on ways to protect buildings

The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the subsequent fears surrounding anthrax and other possible biological attacks has sharply focused management thinking on protecting staff, data and buildings.
This guide has been assembled by BSRIA from various sources to help designers and their clients integrate security features that can mitigate a terrorist attack on a building.

Designing against Terrorism: Guidance on ways to protect buildings
by Stephen Loyd and Roderic Bunn
BSRIA, ISBN 086022 593 3, 2002, 15 pages.
GBP £40, GBP £35 electronic price
Contact: BSRIA, Old Bracknell Lane West, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 7AH, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 1344 426511 | Fax: +44 (0) 1344 487575 | Email: bookshop@bsria.co.uk | www.bsria.co.uk

Difficult people: a guide to handling difficult behaviour

by Barry Winbolt

From time to time we all have to deal with difficult behaviour - our own and other people's. Mostly we manage well, but now and again we run into someone who just does not do things by the same rules.
It is timely published - the European Week on Stress takes place throughout Europe in October 2002, this book will give you new insights into those relationships that cause so much anguish, stress and lost time. It is a practical guide to help handle those nasty situations that obstruct us at work, interfere with our sleep and disrupt our lives.
It covers: who are these difficult people; the social context guiding principles, why are people difficult; stress, emotion, gender and confusion. Section 2 covers the seven key skills for success in handling difficult people.
There is a list of further reading for those who wish to follow-up ideas.

Difficult people: a guide to handling difficult behaviour, by Barry Winbolt
Institute for Social Relations, 2002, ISBN 0954168607, 224 pages
Order from:
ISR Publishing, PO Box 2063,Seaford, BN25 1WA, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 1323 491 115 | Fax: +44 (0)1323 898 018 | Email: info@isr.org.uk

Notes from the Minutes of last FIG Meeting

by Penny Morgan

Held at Dr J H Burgoyne & Partners, London on 10 September 2002

The minutes have been circulated to all Members.
Topics included:

Presentation of accounts.
New edition of FIG Leaves, to be edited by Sheila Pantry. It was noted that Sheila holds the Directory of members, which was checked during the meeting. This is being updated on the FIG website.
Discussion paper on the demise of fire information collections in the UK prepared Sheila Pantry. It was then PROPOSED that FIG prepare a consultation document covering a) what information is available (based on Sheila's discussion document) and b) the policy needs and then a strategy of how to achieve them. ACTION on everyone to provide additions to the list of contacts.
Accessibility of electronic information.
FIG and inFIRE Conference 2002 report.
Updating UDC
Christmas gathering and date of next meeting. FIG will sponsor part of the meeting. Court Restaurant at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London is the lunch venue for 5 December which follows the FIG meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Russell Square 10.30-12 noon; lunch to start at 1.00pm.
Round Table Discussion. This informal part of the meeting has not been minuted.