Vocational Education and Training (VET) students

[Introduction to Basic Home Fire Safety Training Materials]

[Presenter]
Fire is a crucial tool. Most of us use it in our homes every day. We use it to cook, stay warm, and for Feng Shui. But, no one wants a fire in their home.

[Smoke alarm beeps, fire truck sirens]

Fires can start in all sorts of ways.  And some people in our community are at a higher risk of being injured or dying from a fire in their home. This includes young children, older people, people with disabilities and people who experience social and financial disadvantage. We can all help to reduce their risk, and our own.

That's where the Basic Home Fire Safety Training Materials come in or BHFSTM. People that provide support to these high-risk groups need to know about home fire safety. Today, I'm going to explain why the training materials were created, and give you advice on how to deliver them to a group, or how to undertake the training on your own. So that everyone can enjoy being fire safe at home.

[Gentle music]

[On screen text]
Background

[Presenter]
In 2006 the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board or MFB, developed a project to improve fire safety training across the country. This was done on behalf of all Australian fire services and the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council. This resulted in home fire safety information being included into the national Vocational and Education Training for community and health industry training courses. Fire safety is now part of eight units of competency in community services

[On screen text]
Community 
Visit Client Residence CHC-CCS-027
Ensure the Health and Safety of Children CHC-ECE-002
Attend to Daily Functions in Home Based Child Care CHC-ECE-015
Provide Home and Community Support Services CHC-HCS-001
Coordinate and Monitor Home Based Support CHC-HCS-002
Manage and Maintain Tenancy Agreements and Services CHC-SOH-002
Manage Head Lease CHC-SOH-008
Respond to Property Maintenance Enquires CHC-SOH-007

[Presenter]
And three units of competency in health.

[On screen text]
Health Training
Work with Elders in Aboriginal And/or Torres Strait Islander Communities HLT-AHW-014
Promote Burns Prevention in Homes and the Community HLT-AHW-040
Follow Safe Work Practices for Direct Client Care HLT-WHS-002

[Presenter]
These eleven units appear in a broad range of VET qualifications. So to support Registered Training Organisations that deliver VET courses, MFB developed the Basic Home Fire Safety Training Materials in partnership with national fire services for use in every state and territory.

The training materials are free to download from the AFAC website - I'll leave a link to them at the end of the video. But these materials are not just for Registered Training Organisations. Our fire services recommend that the training materials are used as part of induction of new workers and skills maintenance of existing workers. For anyone that delivers in-home care to high-risk groups.

The Commonwealth have also endorsed this recommendation, confirming it's consistent with the Homecare Common Standards relating to Risk Management and Physical Resources. 

[On screen text]
1.6 Risk Management
"The service provider is actively working to identify and address potential risk, to ensure the safety of service users, staff and the organization."
1.8 Physical Resources
"The service provider manages physical resources to ensure the safe delivery of care and services to the service users and organisation personnel."

These training materials are here to help you reduce the risk for your clients, your workers, your agency, or the person you care for.

[Gentle music]

[On screen text]
Delivery

[Presenter]
Okay, now I know you're itching to get your hands on these training materials, so let's take a quick look.

The training materials are made up of three booklets. The Learning Resource, the Participant Workbook, and the Delivery and Assessment Tool. Using all three booklets is only recommended for formal training, which involves an assessment to gain a qualification.

For in-house training like induction and skills maintenance, you will only need the Learning Resource. The Learning Resource has six chapters. 

[On screen text]
1. Fire
2. Home Fire Safety: High Risk Groups
3. Behaviour that contributes to fire injury/fatality in the home
4. Smoke alarms
5. Fire safety and social housing
6. All hazards

[Presenter]
Each chapter contains the essential knowledge in detail, a summary of the essential knowledge, some self check questions, and a few activities. A great way to deliver this training is by remembering the three R's - Read, Review and Reinforce. Let's start with step one, Read. 

[On screen text]
Read

[Presenter]
Provide each worker a link or a hard copy of the Learning Resource. Allocate time for your workers to read it, and to complete questions and activities on their own. This doesn't need to be on the clock, so they can read it anywhere they like. It should take about an hour.

[On screen text]
Review

[Presenter]
Next, review. Organise a one-hour group session with your team. Review the content by working through the summary section of the essential knowledge. Where you can, make it interactive. Bring in a smoke alarm, let everyone test it!

[Smoke alarm beeps]

Also ask your team to share their own experiences, we all have stories to share.

[On screen text]
Reinforce

[Presenter]
Finally, Reinforce. Now you can answer the questions as a group, and why not reward everyone for their correct answers. Then, work through the activities together and challenge your team with problems, that are specific to their clients and locations. This will remind them to implement what they've just learnt, the next time they're at work.

If you work with carers for whom English is a second language, check in with them to ensure they understand the materials. Because fire safety standards are different all over the world.

If you're flying solo, say caring for a family member, that's okay too. The materials are designed so you can train yourself. And the answers to all the questions are available at the end of the resource.

And that's it. Our trusty fire services recommend revisiting the materials every two years to keep up to date. It's a good idea to keep a record of the dates of the sessions and the workers who attended, and each time find a new way to make learning the materials more interesting. Here are some important links you'll need.

[Gentle music]

[On screen text]
Links 

Basic Home Fire Safety Training Materials
afac.com.au

ACT Emergency Services Agency
esa.act.gov.au

Country Fire Authority, Victoria
www.cfa.vic.gov.au

Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Western Australia
www.dfes.wa.gov.au

Fire and Rescue NSW
www.fire.nsw.gov.au

Fire Rescue Victoria
www.frv.vic.gov.au

Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service
www.pfes.net.gov.au/fire-and-rescue

NSW Rural Fire Service 
www.rfs.nsw.gov.au

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
www.qfes.qld.gov.au

South Australia Country Fire Service
www.cfs.sa.gov.au

South Australia Metropolitan Fire Service
www.mfs.sa.gov.au

Tasmania Fire Service
www.fire.tas.gov.au

[Presenter clicks fingers]

[Presenter]
Thanks for watching and good luck with your training. 

[Music ends]