The Project of Improving Online Fire Prevention Report

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The Aim

The aim of the present document is to summaries the information collected to start the project of improving online fire prevention information for businesses. The document will lay out the structure of the project, its main tasks, timeline, and other aspects that will enable the stakeholders to acknowledge the significance of such project and have reference materials for each of its stages. Finally, the aim of the document is to present a business case that will convince the board of the project’s sound basis for funding.

Background

The importance of fire prevention cannot be underestimated. Awareness in that matter is all about information, which is available and accessible. In that regard, such awareness can be connected to the field of public education, which is one of the major fire prevention methods that can be used to reduce life loss from fire” (Cote and Bugbee, 1988). With the advancement of internet technologies, such awareness increasing initiative received a new medium of delivery, which can and is utilised in various purposes. The main aim, in that matter, remains in delivering essential fire prevention information to target audience. Businesses can be seen as important target audiences, a fact which is supported through several legal frameworks. First of all, general fire safety in all non-domestic premises in England has a policy responsibility by Communities and Local Government (CLG) (HSE, 2010). Such legislation focuses on a risk based approach for assessment which business premises should implement. Such responsibility, previously managed by Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is now related to respective local fire and safety authorities (HSE, 2010).

Secondly, the emphasis on increasing awareness in businesses can be seen through the provision of the Fire and Service National Framework, in which it is stated that,

Fire and Rescue Authorities are ideally placed to promote a better understanding of how fire protection measures can reduce the risk to life and limit the detrimental impact of fire on the environment and the economy through their role in providing fire safety advice to the business community. (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2008)

Such aims as initiatives in increasing the awareness of fire prevention can be seen through improving the knowledge management capabilities of fire and rescue services, in which an online portal will provide business owners information and advice on a range of topics, including legal requirements, assessment techniques, and others. Such information will provide a good understanding of the steps business owners and their respective departments will taken to increase the awareness of staff and assess such awareness, along with any risk assessment initiatives they should undertake to comply with safety requirements. Improving information delivery online to business entities is an important step in improving informational exchange, promoting safety and increasing the awareness of fire prevention, and finally improving the collaboration between fire and rescue services and business with the aim of creating safer communities.

Objectives

The main objective of the current project is to improve information delivery online on fire prevention for businesses. Such objective can be dived into the following sub-points:

  • Developing a portal for information on fire prevention for businesses within a period of 6 months.
  • Reduce the number of non-domestic fires by 20% in 2 years.
  • Increase the conformance of businesses to safety requirements by 10%.
  • Reduce fire inspections and associated costs by 50% by the end 2012.

The criteria that measure the success of the project can be seen through the fact of the launch of website, risk assessment initiatives that will be conducted on the website, measurements for preparedness. Additionally, quantitative measures will be determined on a regional and national level through inspections that will measure the number of fire incidents, the number of false alarms, compliance with safety regulations, and the costs saved (HWFR, 2010).

Business Case

The business case of the project can be evaluated through the example of e-Fire, a national project, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, and which aimed at delivering several facilities, each through a certain component of the Fire and Rescue Services. The most obvious common element can be seen through the objective of information exchange and information sharing, e.g. a range of exciting interactive services and products produced and delivered over the internet, for citizens and business (County Durham and Darlington, 2010, Local E-Gov, 2005, Brigham and Introna, 2006). Part of the project was abandoned due the timetable of other e-initiatives. Nevertheless, its implementation on a local level might borrow the same idea, enjoying the same benefits such project was to provide.

Benefits

A portal with fire prevention targeted towards businesses will enable “those responsible for commercial premises to assess fire risk, plan control measures and prepare escape plans” (Local E-Gov, 2005). The benefits of such project can be seen through the deliverables of the e-fire project, namely in the “fire safety and business” stream, which main benefit can be seen through providing an economic vitality to communities. Accordingly, the financial benefits can be seen through the way fire and/or arson can economically impact businesses in particular and communities in general through businesses interruption, closure, loss of jobs, loss of community amenities, and others (LONDON FIRE BRIGADE, 2002). The importance of prevention in su8ch context can be seen through the fact that “70% of businesses involved in major fires either don’t reopen of fail within three years” (Fire-Risk Assessment, 2010). The benefit of the electronic method of delivering information to businesses is expected to save costs associated with decreasing the number of inspections.

Costs

The costs of the project can be divided between the material costs of the development of the website, and the administrative costs connected to personnel, both of which can be seen through the following table:

The administrative costs connected to personnel
Personnel – 58200Material – 101000

Sub Total – 159200

Contingency @ 10% – 15920

Total – 175120

The costs of developing a website were taken through the costs of developing government websites. The least cost was taken considering the directivity of the website’s functionality, and its regional, rather than national orientation.

Analyzing the costs and the benefits of the project it can be stated that the collaboration fire rescue safety and business is a feasible initiative, which benefits will compensate the costs associated with economic losses the community might endure through fire incidents and arsons. Accordingly, the feasibility can be seen through the way such initiative will save costs and expenditures, rather than provides a source of revenue.

It can be stated that the implementation of the portal is a long term investment which costs will be compensated within four to five years. The economic benefits, on the other hand, can be seen through increasing the economic vitality and the awareness of businesses, which will eventually save the region the costs of fires and affected businesses.

Processes, Milestones, and Charts

The duration of the project is estimated to be 181 days, approximately half of which will be devoted to the development of the website. Such period is divided into four main milestones which will serve as the main review points. The duration of each main stage of the project and the corresponding deliverables can be outlined through the following table:

MilestoneDeliverablesStartFinish
Project Preparations and Approval
First MilestoneProject Initiation document accepted by the project boardPIDMonday 03, January 2011Friday 17, January 2011
Second MilestoneThe Project is presented to the project directorA draft of the projectTuesday 18, January 2011Monday 21, February 2011
Third MilestoneThe final draft of the project is approved by the chief officer groupApproved final draft of the projectTuesday 22, February 2011Tuesday 01, March 2011
Website Development
Intermediate Review Points
  • First Review
  • Second Review
Reviewing and modifying the functionality of the portal through iterative cycle of test usages and revisions.List of bugs and improvements to be included in the final version of the portalWednesday 02, March 2011Friday 17, June 2011
Fourth Milestone –The End of the ProjectThe development of the portal finishes through testing.A functional portal providing information on fire prevention to businessesMonday 20, June 2011Friday 01, July 2011

Processes and Milestones

Task #Processes and Milestones
1Preparation of Project Initiation Document (PID)
2Accepting PID (First Milestone)
3Initial research
4Review the e-fire project
5Consultation with web developers
6Consultation with professional body
7Preparation of first draft
8Workshop with business associations
9Redraft
10Preparation of second draft
11Presentation to Project Director (Second Milestone)
12Consultation with fire and rescue representatives and business associations in the region.
13Consultations with Senior Managers
14Completion of Final Draft
15Presentation to Chief Officer Group (Third Milestone)
16Forming IT working group
17Forming a list of the website’s functionality
18Invite bids for a contract
19Reviewing proposals
20Assigning review periods
21Selection of team members
22Development
23First review
24Modifications and revisions
25Second Review
26Modifications and revisions
27Test Launch
28Launching the portal (Fourth Milestone – the End of the Project)

Precedence Table and Gantt Chart

The relationship between tasks can be seen through the following table and corresponding Gantt chart:

Task #Processes and MilestonesPredecessor
1Preparation of Project Initiation Document (PID)
2Accepting PID (First Milestone)1
3Initial research2
4Review the e-fire project2
5Consultation with web developers4
6Consultation with professional body4
7Preparation of first draft5;6;3
8Workshop with business associations7
9Redraft8
10Preparation of second draft9
11Presentation to Project Director (Second Milestone)10
12Consultation with fire and rescue representatives and business associations in the region.11
13Consultations with Senior Managers10
14Completion of Final Draft12;13
15Presentation to Chief Officer Group (Third Milestone)14
16Forming IT working group15
17Forming a list of the website’s functionality16
18Invite bids for a contract17
19Reviewing proposals18
20Assigning review periods19
21Selection of team members20
22Development21
23First review22
24Modifications and revisions23
25Second Review24
26Modifications and revisions25
27Test Launch26
28Launching the portal (Fourth Milestone – the End of the Project)27

Precedence Table and Gantt Chart

Gantt Chart

Staffing

The staffing of the project will be initiated for the stages concerned with project preparation. The staffing of the web development stage will be concerned with the appointment of an Information (IT) consultation team, which will review the functionality of the website, and after the end of the project will be appointed for service and maintenance of the website. The development of the website itself will be taken as a bid contract, in which the winning contractors will take responsibility for their staff of developers. The main roles of the staff outlined in the cost section can be explained as follows:

  1. Project Manager – the person employed to manage all the activities in the project ensuring that it will be finished on time and within the budget (Lock, 2007).
  2. HR Officer –providing assistance in different HR and administrative processes during the project implementation.
  3. Inspector – the inspector will provide an audit and review processes throughout the project’s duration providing reports on the project, the use of a consistent methodology, and conformance to requirements.
  4. Project Coordinator – a role which responsibility in coordinating different aspects of the project, technical, administrative, as well as coordinating tasks and responsibilities between different stakeholders, business associations, and fire and rescue service.
  5. IT consultation team – a team that will provide technical consultation during researching the functionality of the website, evaluating the work performed by the contractor, serving as a test group, and at the end of the project the team might form the IT department of the portal support group.

Risk Management Plan

In the management of IT driven projects there are always risks which causes and possible outcomes can be summarised through the following points:

ItemFailure ModeCause of FailureEffectRecommended Action
1Project preparationChanges in requirement
  • Managerial changes
  • Change of investors
  • Delays
  • Increase in costs
Establishing more review periods
Underestimation of costs
  • Poor cost management.
  • Changes in the market.
  • Over budgeting
  • Delays
  • Contingency 10%
  • Review periods
2Website DevelopmentLoss of InformationTechnical and software problems.
  • Cost increase
  • Increased duration of the project.
  • Insurance
  • contractual obligations.
  • Adding insurance periods.
Delays
  • Underestimation of project duration
  • Adding functionality
Change in contractorsWithdrawal of the contractors from the project

Document Management Plan

The documentation produced and exchanged during the project will be managed using the organisation’s standard. The management of document will become valid once the project is approved (Qatar National Project Management, n.d.). Such standards are concerned with the following aspects:

  • Storage of documents
  • Documents backup procedures.
  • Documents approval.

The document exchange between the organisation and the contractors should follow the formats and the standards of the project for compatibility purposes.

Conclusion

The present report provided the business case for the project of improving the delivery of online information on fire prevention. The project is based on the e-Fire national project, namely the fire safety and business stream. The report outlined the tasks, the schedule and the costs associated with the implementation of the project.

Reference List

BRIGHAM, M. & INTRONA, L. D. 2006. . Journal of Information Technology. Web.

COTE, A. E. & BUGBEE, P. 1988. Principles of fire protection, Quincy, MA, National Fire Protection Association.

COUNTY DURHAM AND DARLINGTON. 2010. Useful Fire Safety Links [Online]. County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service. Web.

DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 2008. .

FIRE-RISK ASSESSMENT. 2010. Fire Risk Assessment – Online Guide. Web.

HSE. 2010. .

HWFR. 2010. Community Safety Strategy A ‘How To’ Guide [Online]. Herefordshire and Worcestershire Fire and Rescue Service. Web.

LOCAL E-GOV. 2005. NATIONAL PROJECTS [Online]. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Web.

LOCK, D. 2007. Project management, Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT, Gower.

LONDON FIRE BRIGADE. 2002. Implementing Electronic Government (IEG) Statement. Web

QATAR NATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT. n.d. Document Management Plan Preparation Guidelines. Web.

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