At 
Fire & Emergency Services SA
Alan has been our Managing Director since 2006 when our founder and Alan’s Father Robert (Bob) Short semi-retired.
The focus of Alan’s role is on sales and marketing. He is working to develop the profile of Fire & Emergency Services SA in the property and facility management, aged care and hotel maintenance communities in South Australia. So if you’re at a Property Council or Facility Management Association event you are likely to see him there.
As the Leader of Fire & Emergency Services SA Alan is always looking for ways to improve our services. In the past this has included a new logo, website, development of our Facility And Control System (FACS) or our procedures and policies. If there is something that you think should be improved let him know – your feedback is always welcome.
Alan is passionate about helping businesses be fire safe. He is a regular presenter to businesses, state seminars and national conferences on the topics of fire safety, maintenance of fire protection equipment and the management of risk associated with managing fire maintenance contracts. If you need a presenter or some training on these topics give Alan a call.
At the Fire protection Association (FPA) Australia
Alan has been on leadership team of the South Australian Membership Group of the Fire Protection Association (FPA) Australia since 2007. His special interests on the team include training, accreditation and maintenance.
In 2014 his efforts were formally recognised when he received the National Meritorious Service Award at the FPA Australia annual conference.
Alan was the first person in South Australia, 2nd nationally, to be accredited through the Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme (FPAS).
As a Business Coach
Alan is also passionate about helping other small business owners develop successful business. In 2012 this was recognised by the City of Salisbury when he was invited to be a small business coach and mentor for the Councils business support centre – the Polaris Centre.
A Timeline of Key Events
Rapid Fire Questions with Alan
Why did you join the fire protection industry?
I didn’t originally intend to join the industry. I had spent years establishing myself as a Traffic Engineer. But when my Dad (Bob) wanted to semi retire the opportunity was too good not to explore it further. Now I can’t see myself working in any other industry.
What do you think makes FESSA different to other Fire Protection Maintenance Companies?
What we think is irrelevant. It’s what our customers think that is important. In the surveys of customers that we have undertaken a couple of things stand out
• We are proactive not reactive
• We are easy to contact and prompt to respond to questions
• Our customer service is better than many of our customers are expecting
Why do you care so much about training and accreditation?
When I joined the industry it shocked me that you didn’t need a qualification. You do a 4 year apprenticeship to cut hair but don’t need to do anything to inspect and test fire equipment! This was both shocking and scary for me as the owner of a business that specialises in the inspection and testing of fire equipment.
Since 2007 I have been working with State and National member of FPA Australia to develop an accreditation scheme. In 2012 the Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme (FPAS) was launched by FPA Australia. It is now being adopted by State Governments as the fulfilment of using a “competent person”.
I have put my money where my mouth is paying for all of our field staff to get qualified and accredited. We are the leaders in South Australia and Nationally for the adoption of training and accreditation.
What is your biggest concern with the industry?
I have two concerns. My first is that while the industry is good at providing and maintaining fire equipment the people that are in the buildings are often ignorant of what to do in an emergency and how to use this equipment to save lives and property.
Recently we have developed a relationship with an interstate Registered Training Authority (RTO) to enable us to deliver nationally accredited fire and warden training to our clients.
I am also concerned that someday in the future someone will lose a life in a fire because someone didn’t maintain the fire equipment correctly. The best way to address this is to require all staff to be accredited, but the government is not interested. Hopefully this will change in the future before someone looses their life.
To find out more, get a speaker for a conference or get help to manage the fire safety systems on your site give Alan a call on 08 8262 9245.