Adapting to change in your community: The new FRS community landscape for 2021

The Impact of the Pandemic

Discover how the impact of the pandemic and lockdown have changed the protection and prevention needs of individuals and households.

The Covid-19 era has brought far-reaching changes to citizens and communities all over the UK. Constraints on going out, changes to working patterns and the after-effects of illness and isolation have made a big difference to people’s behaviour and habits.

For FRS organisations, this is important. It means that proven engagement and communication channels may no longer be effective, so your vital messages don’t get to the people who need them. It means that people are spending more time in their homes and using them for different activities, potentially changing their risk profiles. It means that people may be physically and mentally more vulnerable to fire and emergency incidents.

We’ve Highlighted 5 FRS Actiities to Review in Context of 2021’s Still-Evolving Pandemic Situation

1. Home Safety Visits (Safe & Well)

Historically, these have played a pivotal role in reaching people who are most at risk of being victims of residential fires. With constraints on non-essential contact, your FRS may already have had to reduce this programme. But more people are spending time in their homes, so the importance of providing advice and checking smoke alarms is greater than ever.

Recommendation: Assess alternative communication channels for providing Home Safety Advice – social media and online communications may be effective for some households. For those who digitally excluded, prioritise the most vulnerable and at risk households to visit in a Covid-safe manner.

2. Awareness-Raising Events

Speaker events in schools, workplaces, residential homes and at community events and clubs are excellent ways to engage with different sections of the community, from youngsters to business owners or people for whom English is not a first language. These presentations and sessions in familiar and trusted settings help get across messages about safety and behaviour to reduce fire risks. Group events and meetings are currently prohibited and unlikely to resume in full for some time.

Recommendation: These groups and organisations may well be using alternative channels and communications to stay in contact with their members. Offer them suitable content to include. For example, an online FRS assembly for your community secondary schools or a list of safety tips to insert in the newsletter delivered door to door by a faith community.

3. Community Displays

With libraries and community centres either closed or restricting access in lockdown and beyond, there’s no opportunity to mount FRS displays and campaign information that used to be seen by many. Using vacant shop units is less effective, with high street footfall greatly reduced.

Recommendation: Essential retailers such as local shops or supermarkets may have community noticeboards where you can share important messages or posters which will be seen as customers pass by. Local papers and TV channels may be prepared to publicise your campaigns, if you highlight the challenges and risks that lockdown has brought to FRS and the efforts you’re making to stay engaged to save lives.

4. Digital Campaigns and Communication

Digital channels are a lifeline in the pandemic. Many households have improved their connection and understanding of technology, using video platforms like Zoom or Teams for the first time, for work, education and social contact. Consumers who use social media and stream content are doing it more than ever, while confined to their homes. But digital channels are not accessible to everyone – it’s important not to rely on them completely.

Recommendation: Understanding digital engagement is key to effective communication with residents. In pandemic circumstances, you need to know how to engage vulnerable and at-risk groups who may not be digitally connected. They may need doorstep engagement or paper-based information. The challenge is to identify digitally excluded households and target them with appropriate FRS outreach, while making the most of more cost-effective digital methods for those who can access it easily.

5. At-Risk Household Profiling

Poor health and social isolation are factors which can increase the potential risk of fatality or injury when a fire occurs. Identifying residents with increased vulnerability helps to make risk scoring and household profiling more accurate and effective.

Recommendation: Review your profiling to keep it up to date, reflecting the effects of illness, bereavement and incapacity caused by the Covid pandemic. Make sure you know where your most vulnerable households are in 2021: use all sources of local and commercial data to keep at-risk lists up to date and know where support and protection from FRS is most needed in your community.

Blended data insight can help you identify the changing profiles and prevention and protection needs of households in your community in 2021. Get in touch with CACI’s FRS data specialists for help and advice on community segmentation and channel selection.