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Public Safety

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What is Public Safety?

Public Safety involves protecting and safeguarding the public, as well as responding to crime, disaster, and other potential dangers and threats. This involves the emergency services working together with key partners, including safety focussed charities. Activity by community safety partnerships includes delivering essential safety messages and supporting efforts within preparation, response and recovery, to help reduce avoidable injuries and deaths within our communities.

Within this topic we explore various aspects of public safety, including Fire Safety, Arson and Deliberate Fire Setting and Road Safety – which have direct links into community safety. The work of Civil Contingencies and Resilience around emergency preparedness links into Counter-Terrorism and Extremism activity. We also include Home Safety and Outdoors (including Water) Safety which supports the wider ambitions of safer communities.

 

JESIP principles for joint working 

Findings and lessons identified by public inquiries and inquests have highlighted cases where the emergency services could have worked better together and shown much greater levels of communication, co-operation and co-ordination (see the Pollock Report). JESIP seeks to improve joint working between the emergency and responding services through the 5 JESIP principles:

  • Co-locate
  • Communicate
  • Coordinate
  • Jointly understand risk
  • Shared Situational Awareness
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Public Protection 

There are linkages from Public Safety into the Public Protection or Regulatory Services provided by Local Authorities which include environmental health, trading standards, pollution control, pest control, weights and measures, building control, advice services, licensing, food safety, health and safety and animal health. 

Services aim to promote a fair and just trading environment for citizens and business. However, criminal matters which require further investigation are referred to the Local Authorities Trading Standards team, who work in partnership with the Police and other investigatory bodies. Notably, the sale of counterfeit or fake goods, rogue traders or illegal money lending can be linked to organised crime (see Serious Violence and Organised Crime).

Other related topics to public safety within this website include Safeguarding, Public Order, Public Spaces, Night Time Economy (includes licensing) and Personal Safety (includes reference to workplace Health and Safety) and Environmental Anti-Social Behaviour (reference to Environmental Health). 

  • Each topic covers relevant legislation. However, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and guidance provides the modern framework for emergency preparedness and resilience.
  • Previous UK’s crisis management policy and associated legislation were mainly based on civil defence and health and safety legislation.
  • Also see Terrorism and Extremism.

Useful Links

Advice and crime prevention | Police.uk 

Visit the Website

Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers (ACTSO) and National Trading Standards

Visit the Website

Ask the Police UK

Visit the Website

Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

Visit the Website

Trading Standards Wales

Visit the Website

Civil Contingencies Act 2004: a short guide

Read the Guide

Food Standards Agency in Wales

Visit the Website

Food Standards Agency in Wales – Report a food problem

Visit the Website

Money Advice Service – Loan sharks

Read the Advice

Preparation and planning for emergencies: responsibilities of responder agencies and others – GOV.UK 

Read the guidance

StayWise – Saving lives through education

Visit the Website

Trading Standards at Your Council – A Member’s Handbook 2018 (WHoTS)

Read the Guide

Help and Support

For victims, families and concerned people

There are four main UK emergency services – Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance, Police and Coastguard. In Wales this includes – South Wales Police; Dyfed Powys Police; Gwent Police; North Wales Police; Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service; North Wales Fire and Rescue Service; South Wales Fire and Rescue Service; Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust; and HM Coastguard.

In an emergency, call 999. If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, use the Police textphone service 18000 or text on 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergencySMS service.

Other specialist life saving services, include RNLI – Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Wales Flying Medics, All Wales Urban Search and Rescue Team, and regional mountain rescue teams. 

See our Directory for Local Authority links and services.

What 3 words has divided the world into 3 metre squares and given each square a unique combination of three words. It’s an easy way to find and share exact locations in an emergency when street addresses are not accurate or do not exist.