Assessing the impact of a fire safety intervention

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) has experienced a strategic shift in their community safety work, this has involved the delivery of a fire safety intervention, the Home Safety Assessment (HSA). The primary objective of this study was to explore the impact of this intervention. The second objective was to investigate the role of self-efficacy in the uptake of fire safe behaviours. Design: This research was conducted within a wider mixed methods PhD study into the implementation of the HSAs by CFRS. This phase of the research employed a cross-sectional survey design investigating whether individuals changed their behaviour to be more fire safe in their home. Methods: Participants completed a questionnaire, with questions focussing on the rating of the HSA, behavioural change in response to the advice, and their self-efficacy in continuing with the advice given. 2000 residents from across Cheshire were randomly selected to receive the postal questionnaire, and 311 completed questionnaires were returned. Results: A majority of the participants agreed that they took steps to make their home safer since the HSA (N=183), they still follow the majority of the advice (N=211), and they regularly test their smoke alarm (N=193). Self-efficacy was positively correlated with taking steps to make their homes safer (r=.495, p=.000), and, still following the advice given during the HSA (r=.523, p=.000). Conclusions: The study highlights the usefulness of the HSA in promoting fire safety and suggests that those with higher self-efficacy are more likely to continue with fire safe behaviours after the HSA.