Meet the Business Fire Safety team
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service employ around 50 people within it's Protection team to provide advice and support to the business and commercial sector.
The primary role of the Protection department is to ensure that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is enforced in non-domestic premises, commercial premises and common parts of domestic premises across Essex.
The Protection department works proactively to promote fire safety within Essex, our Inspecting Officers do this by conducting fire safety audits to assess compliance with the relevant legislation. The premises they visit, and the regularity of visits, is all determined by our Risk Based Inspection Programme.
Business Engagement
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is committed to working with the business community to reduce the number of deliberate and accidental fires in commercial premises across Essex.
To help this, we have a dedicated Business Engagement Team who provide local businesses with advice and support. This enables business owners, managers and other building occupiers to comply with their statutory duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
We're committed to simplifying fire safety to help keep businesses safe from fire.
Rural/Farm Engagement
We have a dedicated Fire Safety Officer to provide advice and support to our rural and farm businesses in Essex. Oliver Everott is our Rural Engagement Officer and comes from a farming background so has lots of knowledge of the farming industry. Ollie grew up on a dairy farm and has worked as a gamekeeper, deer keeper and a farm manager in charge of livestock and arable farms.
Fire Investigation
The Fire Investigation Team aim to tackle fire-related crime in our county. Every fire attended by ECFRS is examined by the responding fire crews to establish the most likely cause. However, when there is the need for a more detailed investigation we have a dedicated team of fire investigators who examine the causes of a fire and help to identify dangerous products and practices.
In cases where the cause of a fire is thought to be suspicious or deliberate, Fire Investigation Officers will work to analyse evidence from the scene and associated enquires to assist the Police in prosecuting those responsible. Members of the Fire Investigation Team are often called upon to provide evidence regarding the origin and cause of a fire to the Coroner and criminal or civil courts.
Fizz - Fire Investigation Dog
Fizz is a key member of our Fire Investigation Team. She can identify up to 30 flammable substances, many of which are odourless to humans. Fizz will be called to attend the scene of a deliberate fires, alongside her handler Graham Currie. Thanks to Fizz and her exceptional skills, we have been able to find more evidence and secure more convictions for arsons, which is vital to our fight to prevent further deliberate fires.
Fizz Fun Facts:
- Fizz can search up to 350 times faster than a human
- Fizz can cover 1,000sq in 25 minutes. It would take several days for a human search team
- Fizz has more than 100 million scent receptors up her nose compared to 6 million for humans
- Fizz's part of the brain for analysing the scents is 40% larger than a humans
Inspecting Officers
Our Inspecting Officers conduct fire safety audits at businesses and commercial premises across Essex to assess compliance with the relevant legislation.
The team is based at several sites across Essex to ensure we provide the best possible service to the local community and our partners. The team works out of local offices based at Basildon, Rayleigh Weir, Colchester and Harlow.
Contact your local Business Fire Safety Office:
Basildon Office (South West Group)
Covering Basildon, Brentwood, Epping and Grays Districts
Email: southwestgroupsdp@essex-fire.gov.uk
Tel: 01376 576700
Rayleigh Weir Office (South East Office)
Covering Chelmsford, Castle Point, Southend and Rochford Districts
Email: southeastgroupsdp@essex-fire.gov.uk
Tel: 01376 576500
Colchester Office ( North East Group)
Covering Colchester, Maldon and Tendring Districts
Email: northeastgroupsdp@essex-fire.gov.uk
Tel: 01376 576600
Harlow Office (North West Office)
Covering Harlow, Braintree and Uttlesford Districts
Email: northwestgroupsdp@essex-fire.gov.uk
Tel: 01376 576800
Engineering and Enforcement
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service the Enforcing Authority for the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in Essex.
This means that if we find a business or building that fails to comply with the fire safety duties imposed by the Fire Safety Order we have a legal duty to issue a notice of Enforcement or Prohibition.
The dedicated Enforcement team receive reports from the Fire Safety Inspectors on breaches of fire safety legislation in order to support the legal prosecution.
Primary Authority Scheme
In 2014 fire services were introduced into the Office for Product Safety and Standards ‘Primary Authority’ scheme. The scheme demonstrates a legally recognised partnership between a business and a primary authority. This can be either set up as a co-ordinated or direct partnership. This scheme allows businesses that operate across more than one authority area to standardise their procedures in a manner that will be accepted across all their business premises.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service work with partners that operate in the care, hospitality, leisure, housing and retail industries providing information, advice and support to them that is used nationally and locally.