Operational Assurance

Plan

2013-2014

APPENDIX A

2

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)

3

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

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Appendices

Appendix A Annual Availability

Appendix B Emerging Themes Database

Appendix C Emerging Themes Process

Appendix D Prioritisation and Management of Risk

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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.

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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 reports1 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. OAA - Training Report

Provides assurance that Watch based operational personnel are undertaking training in accordance with standard operating procedures, policies and guidance.

iii. OAA - Exercise Report

Provides assurance that activities undertaken during large scale exercises are in accordance with standard operating procedures, policies and guidance.

iv. 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

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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.

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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:

2 Commensurate with the full team available to attend operational incidents.

OPERATIONAL ASSURANCE TEAM

ASSURANCE DAYS ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES

Total Assurance Days Available 608

1. OAA - Incidents Activities 1202

2. OAA – Core Activities ( Station, Training and Work Routine OAAs)

30

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

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

Table 1.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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 ( )

Table 2: Borough Targets

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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.

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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) 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.

(ii) 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.

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(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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Appendix A

24

25

Figure 3: Screenshot from Emerging Themes Register

Appendix B

Emerging Themes Process Map Appendix C

Op

era

tio

na

l R

isk

Co

ntr

ol g

rou

pO

A T

ea

mD

ep

art

me

nta

l risk

Re

gis

ter

Em

erg

ing

Th

em

es

Re

gis

ter

Link from

corporate

Risk

management

Process

ETR is

udated

Identifying officer

enters the issue

onto the ETR

A score is

assigned against

likelihood and

Impact

The ETR

multiplies

likelihood and

impact to achieve

a risk score

The risk

scale

determines

if the risk is

Low,

medium or

High

The subject

matter is identified

on four

occasions?

The issue is

retained on

the ETR. OA

continue

monitoring

No

Yes

The four risk

scores are

combined to give

an overall score

and compared

against the Risk

Scale

Issue entered

onto

Departmental

Risk Register

The issue is

discussed at next

ORCG

Contents of

ETR

communicated

via usual

channels

27

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.

Appendix D