- Title:
-
Vulnerability and the Translation of Safety Knowledge
- Date:
- February 2002
- Organisations
- NZFS
- Authors:
- Katrina Roen and Michael Lloyd
- Location:
- New Zealand, New Zealand
Overview
Vulnerability and the Translation of Safety Knowledge builds on the earlier project by the New Zealand Fire Service “Fire Safety as an Interactive Phenomenon”. In that research a qualitative research design to study fire safety knowledge in action was employed. In this report the focus is broadened to consider the New Zealand Fire Service (NZFS) as an organisation that holds accumulated fire safety knowledge, and seeks to target this knowledge towards identified vulnerable groups and effectively communicate its adopted safety strategies.
This research draws from interviews with NZFS employees to identify ways in which the NZFS could optimally reach out to at-risk groups with fire safety promotions and reduce domestic fires. The research focuses on the employment of firefighters as the interface between the NZFS and the public, and on the promotion of domestic fire safety. The analysis works from a translation model of fire safety knowledge. This means that promoting fire safety effectively is not simply a matter of altering the physical environment (e.g. by installing a smoke detector) or distributing "information" about fire safety (e.g. through pamphlet drops). Rather, promoting fire safety is about finding the right mixture of human and material elements, a mixture that itself needs to be flexibly applied across situations.
Related documents
Fire Safety as an Interactive Phenomenon
This is the first report from New Zealand Fire Service which Vulnerability and the Translation of Safety Knowledge builds upon.
