In October, the FIA (Fire Industry Association) released the results of the Market Conditions Survey, Wave 9 report. The survey is a snapshot of the current trends within the fire industry and is conducted every 6 months.

It considers various indicators within the industry, including information on pricing, number of enquiries, where enquiries come from, labour utilised (skilled or otherwise), tenders and training.

As you would expect, the content of the report and survey results reflect the heightened awareness of the importance of fire regulations following the Grenfell tragedy.

General comments at the end of the report include:

“People starting to take fire safety more seriously post Grenfell.”

“Massive rise in fire risk assessment enquiries since the Grenfell fire.”

“Definite increase in the number of quotes being requested and the percentage of quotes taken up, presumable post Grenfell. The demand for fire risk assessments has also risen dramatically.”

The emphasis, therefore, for action going forward is to improve the competency of the people involved at every level.

At SS Systems we certainly agree that there is more work to be done in order to further educate the owners and managers of non-domestic buildings. This is one of the reasons why we are extending our CPD training programme into 2018.

But what about you? As a company we would be really interested to hear your thoughts on where “fire safety awareness” rates in your own organisation and whether or not the Grenfell fire changed your views. How important is it and is training an area you’ll be reviewing in the New Year? Or do you prefer to rely on experts in the fire industry to help you maintain your fire safety policies?