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HOUSTON - The Houston Fire Department (HFD) thanks the City Controller’s staff for the time and diligence they placed into this audit. The Department found the audit report and recommendations helpful in identifying areas where improved controls are needed within the Life Safety Bureau (LSB).
As detailed in the HFD’s response and implementation plan, we agree with the majority of the recommendations. The Department had previously recognized some of these same issues and began to develop solutions. As a result, the Department has already taken steps to implement some of the suggested changes throughout the LSB.
Those steps include:
- The LSB has recently implemented a risk-based inspection program to materially improve the effectiveness of the HFD’s inspection process and drive increased public safety. The program provides a framework focused on prioritizing and scheduling recurring inspections, and improved management reports of permit requirements.
- New data entry tools to provide real-time management metrics increasing the efficiency of inspectors and decreasing errors associated with manual data entry from paper forms.
- Council approved the purchase of a new information management system with several critical technology enhancements necessary to fully meet the objectives of the program. The technological improvements are longer-term initiatives which will help the LSB and all of the permitting and code enforcement resources within the City of Houston to build upon its accomplishments.
- Along with the audit recommendations we are implementing a process from A&M Consulting that reviews current property data and allows for frequent updates to reprioritize properties. The result is a vetted inventory of properties with a risked-based inspection schedule.
Nevertheless, we understand, and the audit report makes it clear, that improved controls must be implemented now to ensure that the LSB carries out its important mission and documents its performance in a timely and reliable manner. We will continue to work to implement the measures included in the audit report.
*Note* Chief Pena is currently out of town and therefore unavailable for face-to-face interviews.
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