For Fire and Rescue services across the UK, ensuring optimal staffing levels at all times, as well as keeping track of individual performance, has become an increasingly difficult challenge.
If we consider the increasing number of qualifications, complex crewing models and an increasing number of stations working with wholetime and retained duty firefighters combined, it has become progressively challenging to track achieved versus expected shifts or on-call hours, especially when firefighters perform different activities that can affect appliance availabilities. With budget constraints, staffing changes and complex compliance requirements, it’s become an art to balance the Service’s financial performance, firefighters’ wellness and high-quality levels of service to the public.
Optimising staffing levels requires a lot more than a fixed rota or target contractual hours; it is a matter of seeing the big picture and act accordingly. For that to happen, Fire and Rescue Services can’t rely on manual processes anymore. Instead, it requires the aid of technology that provides insightful information about the availability of resources, firefighters’ skills and qualifications, and their contractual obligations and rights.
