Fire Safety Video for Public Housing Tenants

Project Summary

The Department of Health and Human Services (the department) developed a video for fire safety awareness in collaboration with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) to raise awareness about fire safety in 44 Director-owned high-rise towers. Translated into seven key languages for tenants, the video’s impact included increased fire safety awareness, and what to do in the event of a fire.

Background and Situation Context

The catalyst for the fire safety video was two corridor fires in Director-owned high-rise towers in 2017 resulting in a person sustaining serious injuries. The department wanted to assure tenants living in high-rise buildings that their homes were safe and had a range of fire safety equipment in each tower.

The department collaborated with MFB to develop a short video about fire safety. The video combined key messages from MFB firefighters as well as animation to explain complex messages. The video now plays on a loop in the foyer of every high-rise tower. The key beneficiaries of this video are the public housing tenants living in the Director-owned high-rise buildings across Melbourne.

Activities

MFB and the department developed a high-rise specific fire safety brochure, which interpreters translated into seven key languages. MFB delivered twenty-six collaborative fire safety sessions to tenants living in high-rise towers. Attendance at these sessions was voluntary and not always well attended.

The department wanted to provide the fire safety message more broadly to all tenants living in the high-rise towers through a fire safety video that was informative and could traverse diverse cultural backgrounds. The use of animation was included in the video to assist with cross-cultural diversity.

A $50,000 commitment to develop the fire safety video made the project possible. The department procured Burning House, the production company, through a competitive process to work with the department and MFB to develop the video, including the animation. MFB provided fire units, firefighters and resourcing for the video, which the production company shot at one of the department's high-rise towers. The completed project loops in the foyer of all the 44 high-rise towers across Melbourne, including the translation of the video into seven key languages.

The tragic events involving public housing tenants in London affected the timing of the video. A sense of urgency existed with the fire safety sessions and subsequent video to ensure tenants were informed and not alarmed.

Results

The successful implementation of the fire safety video in 44 high-rise towers across metro Melbourne.

The fire safety video achieved a Highly Commended in the Resilient Australia Awards in 2018.

A fire-safety awareness brochure complements the video. Each high-rise tenant received a brochure and attended fire safety workshops with MFB and the department.

The fire safety video was an initiative of the departments Public Housing Fire Safety and Arson Management Committee, which included representatives from the Victorian Public Tenants Association. The committee’s purpose was to provide the department opportunities to discuss with other relevant stakeholders, issues related to the management of statewide fire safety and develop initiatives across Melbourne to help reduce the risk of fires.

One of these initiatives has been a department-wide fire safety research project which involves the linking of fire safety incidents with tenant records, including health, mental health, disability, drug and alcohol to determine key fire risk indicators. Once the department identifies these risk indicators, the MFB can implement a range of initiatives for tenants who may be a high risk for a fire incident. The research, when completed, will inform further fire safety education as well as policy initiatives.

Reflection

The video aims to provide key fire safety messages to all public housing tenants living in high-rise towers, and serves to increase the resilience of residents should a fire or unexpected event occur. The use of animation provided a novel approach at overcoming language, cultural and other barriers to becoming more about fire safety. The seven translated versions aimed to reach key language groups living in the high-rises. However, due to a limited budget, the department could not translate all languages. The department delivered the project on time and within budget.

Critical Success Factors

The critical success of this was the appointment of Burning House, the production company, was highly engaged in the project and passionate about the outcome of the project. The allocation of a resource to manage the project ensured that critical elements of the project were managed efficiently so that the project was not delayed.

The partnership between the department and MFB was the critical success factor in achieving an engaging, informative and relevant fire safety video for a diverse range of people. The procurement of Burning House to deliver the video was also a success factor because the team was committed to delivering a compelling video for tenants. The team went beyond the call of duty to achieve a successful outcome that was within budget. The video has the potential for the department to replicate in other types of public housing dwellings.

Barriers and Solutions

• Small budget had the potential to impact on the quality of the video – this was overcome through good project management
• Diversity of culture necessitated a creative approach to inform public housing tenants about fire safety – using animation assisted with addressing cultural diversity.
• Short timeframes required a high priority for this project, which often competed with other key priorities.
• There was a challenge in how to get the videos to all of the tenants, which resulted in the installation of television monitors in the foyer of all 44 of the high-rise towers across Melbourne. The video has been set to loop through the different languages.

Additional Project Details