Accident Investigation

Your challenge

Under the punishing conditions of the fire ground all but the most robust pieces of fire service equipment are likely to degrade with repeated use. When a piece of equipment fails, it is vital to establish the cause of the failure to ensure that other similar equipment remain safe to use. This is doubly important if the failure results in injuries or even fatalities amongst fire service personnel. By carrying out a full investigation, we can ensure that lessons are learned and safety improvements implemented if required.

How we support you

Bureau Veritas provide a comprehensive service whereby accidents and dangerous occurrences relating to the failure of equipment are independently investigated to determine the reason for the failure and make recommendations as to how similar incidents can be avoided in the future.

Our specialist team offers a comprehensive service covering everything from minor injuries due to failures of protective equipment, through to fatalities.

The Bureau Veritas team draws on extensive experience of working alongside fire and rescue services at incidents to gain insight into how the fire service operates and the conditions to which their equipment is exposed. By combining this with our analytical approach to accident investigation and our extensive network of specialist engineers and scientists, we are uniquely placed to carry out detailed accident investigations and make recommendations for improvements to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Our services include:

• Independent investigation into accidents, dangerous occurrences and faults/failures of fire service equipment including incidents resulting in injuries and fatalities

• Design of experiments intended to confirm the nature of the failure and reproduce it if possible

• Project management of accident investigation processes including liaison between the fire and rescue service and other specialists

• Assistance in selection and testing of new equipment including design and implementation of testing regimes, project management and provision of specialist training

• Independent witnessing of testing

• Participation in failures of air supply (AKA Distress to Wearer) investigations

• Access to water quality/Legionella testing, air quality testing and asbestos analysis services

• Expert witness services, legal statements and participation in fatal accident inquiries, legal proceedings and performance management reviews

Benefits

• Independent investigation to better understand the causes of equipment failure to reduce risk

• Network of specialist engineers and scientists with extensive experience of working alongside fire and rescue services at incidents

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