Louth County Fire & Rescue Service awarded ISO accreditation

Louth County Fire and Rescue Service has been awarded the prestigious ISO 45001 accreditation for its Health and Safety Management System.

ISO 45001 is the premier international standard for Health and Safety Management and public sector and private sector organisations must have a high level of fire safety management to be accredited. Louth County Council welcomed the accreditation for the Fire Service, which was awarded following a two day audit by the National Standards Authority of Ireland from 15th to 16th April 2024. 

Auditors examined all of Louth Fire Service’s policies, procedures, audits, and records in relation to Health and Safety.  This included procedures and audits in fire stations, for incidents and in Dundalk Training Centre.

Chief Fire Officer at Louth County Council, Eamon Woulfe explained that a detailed audit was carried out ahead of accreditation: “The auditors met with senior Fire Service staff and visited both full time and retained stations in Louth where they met officers and fire fighters, and discussed how policies and procedures were being implemented on the ground.

"The audit saw checks carried out on a range of paperwork kept in the stations, including drill records, inventory checks and equipment maintenance records. It also included a review of how Fire Service members were familiarised with the Safety Statement, Risk Assessments and Standard Operating Guidelines.”

He added: “ISO 45001 requires systems for dealing with non-conformances, accidents, and incidents. The auditors were updated on the procedures and spreadsheets showing these how issues are responded to and closed off.”

Demonstrations of the FLEX software system were given by Fire Service staff. This is a powerful system which is used in Louth for the management of Fire Service training, the management of personal protective clothing and equipment, and fleet maintenance.

Chief Executive at Louth County Council, Joan Martin, praised the work of the Fire Service in attaining the accreditation: “Louth County Fire and Rescue are among the first fire services in the country to receive the ISO 45001 award, and are proudly leading the way in implementing a high level of fire safety management.”