How do we identify risk?

GFRS has conducted a thorough risk analysis of previous incidents, fire safety audits and safe and well visits and future risks that could lead to emergency incidents in the future. Our risk information comes from a number of sources and helps us to develop our Community Risk Profiles (Link to CRPs).

The CRP’s inform our decision making regarding the most suitable prevention, protection and emergency response arrangements to manage risk to an acceptable level. The risks we consider include:

• Fatalities, reflecting the number of people killed at an incident.
• Casualties, covering those requiring medical intervention resulting from an incident and mental health casualties.
• Evacuation and shelter from hazardous events.
• Behaviour, public perception and anxiety.
• Economy, to include property damage, heritage loss and business disruption.
• Disruption to essential services including transport, utilities, finance, communications and other
• Emergency Services.
• Environmental risks including all types of pollution to the environment.

There are five key components to identifying and mitigating risks.

1. Defining scope

Identify and assess the full range of fire and rescue risks.

Develop risk matrices for Prevention, Protection and Response.

2. Hazard identification

Identify the potential sources of harm that could impact a risk group.

Identify the potential events that could lead to a hazard causing harm to a risk group.

Identify who or what within the community is at risk.

3. Risk analysis

The risk analysis process takes into account the ‘likelihood’ and potential ‘consequences’ of the identified possible ‘hazardous events’ to produce an overall risk score for each event. Data and professional judgement are used to risk score the hazardous events.

The overall consequence and likelihood scores are next plotted onto a risk matrix which in turn gives an overall risk score for each respective hazardous event.

4. Decision making

This is where the key decisions are made to ensure that the appropriate control measures are implemented to mitigate the risks that have been identified.

5. Evaluation

Throughout the lifetime of the 2022-2025 CRMP, regular evaluation will be performed to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness and organisational impact of the risk management decisions.