When the stakes are high
Published: 01 April, 2007
A software company that within eight months of its foundation won a UK Regional Business Start-up of the Year award and was runner up in the same awards in the following year as Innovative Business of the Year, has now been selected to provide the risk management software for the World Firefighters Games 2008, which are due to be held in Merseyside. The company is also in talks with a major petrochemical company who is exploring the possibility of a tool to manage risk across its entire business.
Cumbria-based Top Solutions (UK) specialises in risk-management software, which in its most simplified form is a system that records specific risks and notifies designated staff when associated actions should take place by sending out timely reminders to the relevant parties as and when required. Fire & Rescue interviewed Kimberley-Anne Heron of Top Solutions (UK) to find out more about possible applications in the fire sector.
Top Solutions (UK)’s involvement with emergency services began with Cleveland Fire & Rescue Service explains Kimberley-Anne. “We developed a product to help them manage their internal risks and then applied it to the SME market to help manage risk in accordance with the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (UK legislation introduced in 2006 that transfers responsibility for a building’s fire safety checks from fire brigade to the building’s proprietor). The software collects and collates all risk-related information, and sends out email alerts to prompt action; for example when certain equipment such as fire extinguishers need to be checked and then allows the attachment of documents to maintain an evidence portfolio. The system can segregate different departments within an organisation who have responsibility for a particular area of risk. In an industrial setting, for example, the purchaser of PPE would have access to that part of the system that relates to all PPE equipment; and risk alerts might relate to the re-ordering of perishable wearables such as hard hats or the testing of critical equipment such as SCBA.
Top Solutions (UK) can also provide tablet PCs and Bluetooth-enabled digital pens that can import data directly into the risk management software, much reducing the paper trail.
To better understand the greater possibilities of such a tool when deployed with M-Tier, Kimberley-Anne explains the product being used for the 2008 World Firefighter Games. “The technology allows several agencies to have their own risk “node” within the portal. Each has the full range of enterprise features enabling them to manage their own activities independently and privately. However they can choose to make selected risk assessments visible to other agencies where they have a common goal and need to co-ordinate their combined efforts, therefore vastly improving communication and efficiency.” In this scenario, the word ‘risk’ could refer to anything from crowd control and vehicle capacity/overflow, down to trip hazards and even seating plans for the Games’ judges. “And because it is all computerised, there is no need for lots of paperwork. Automated e-mail prompts help keep tasks and reviews on schedule, whilst electronic publishing and distribution makes sure reports always go out to the right people at the right time – without fail.”
The risk centric software has been spun into different sectors already. “Another of our software modules is Scaffman, produced specifically for construction projects. Site scaffolding has to be checked periodically for safety and we provide electronic management using software, and when it’s time for a safety check it sends out alerts to site managers.”
Kimberley-Anne adds that Top Solutions (UK) have also showcased their software in a live demonstration to the New York Fire Department and have identified a number of other US federal agencies who would benefit from its unique functionality. The company is actively looking to partner with companies in the US to take this initiative to market. Not bad for a company numbering 10 people!
