News Feb 2002

The name of the organisation shall be “The Emergency Planning Society – Republic Of Ireland Branch” hereinafter in these rules called “The Branch”.

2.1 “The Branch” shall operate as a professional body with the object of promoting effective Emergency Planning and Management in the Republic of Ireland. The objectives of the Branch shall be to promote and protect the interests of Emergency Planning and to exchange ideas of professional interest.

2.2 The Branch may make representations to the Republic of Ireland Government, Local Authorities and other relevant organisations in the Republic of Ireland, but shall inform Council of any such representations which could have implications for the Society as a whole.

Membership of the Branch shall be open to any person involved in a professional, managerial or operational, capacity in emergency planning and management who is accepted for membership of the society.

Associate Member of the Society

Member of the Society

Election to membership status can be achieved by completion of at least two years practical experience of emergency planning and the submission of a career portfolio for appraisal using the Credit Accumulation and Transfer System.

Fellow of the Society

Any member may apply for fellowship having completed a total of five years service in emergency planning and having prepared an appropriate career portfolio for appraisal by the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Board.

Affiliate Member of the Society

Affiliate membership is open to those who have an interest in emergency planning or are engaged in full-time study related to the field of emergency planning.

Honorary Member of the Society

Honorary membership of the Society may be granted by the Council to any person whose contribution to the objectives of the Society has, in the opinion of the Council, merited such recognition. Honorary Membership becomes effective from the date of acceptance by the person concerned of the invitation by the Council. Honorary Members do not have voting rights.

Retired Member of the Society

Members who cease to be involved in emergency planning and management are entitled to retain their membership status subject to payment of the appropriate subscription but, on retirement, may apply to the Council to transfer to Retired Member category. Retired Members do not have voting rights.

Membership demonstrates that an individual is committed to the high professional standards expected of all Society members. This carried with it both opportunity and responsibility.

4.1 An applicant who has been made a Member of the Society shall have automatic right to apply for membership of the Branch.

4.2 Applicants under rule 4.1 of the Branch rules, will be accepted as branch members, provided they sign a form agreeing to accept the branch rules when they apply.

4.3 Where a member resigns his membership of the Society, he will automatically cease to be a Member of the Branch.

4.4 Members (retired) and Honorary Members shall not have the right to vote at Branch Meetings. They shall have the right to participate in the debate at any meeting at the invitation of the Chairman.

5.1 The management of the affairs of the Branch shall be vested in the Branch Officers (see 5.4 below) elected by Branch members.

5.2 Branch Officers shall be elected by the Branch Members at the Branch Annual General Meetings.

5.3.1 Nominations for appointment as a Branch Officer shall be submitted, on the prescribed form, by Branch Members to the Hon Secretary of the Branch at least twenty eight clear days before the Annual General Meeting. No nominations shall be submitted unless the proposer has the express approval of the nominee. The nominee will forward a curriculum vitae with the nomination form.

5.3.2 If there shall be more than one nomination for any office a ballot shall be taken in respect of each appointment to be filled. For this purpose, the Hon Secretary shall send to each Branch Member, at least seven days before the Annual General Meeting, a list of the persons nominated for the offices to be filled, a curriculum vitae for each nominee, a ballot paper and an envelope. The ballot paper when marked, shall be enclosed in the envelope provided which shall then be sealed and returned to the Hon Secretary prior to the commencement of the Annual General Meeting. Failure to comply with the provision will invalidate the voting paper. For the purpose of carrying out any ballot under this rule, the Branch Officers will appoint two members of the Branch, not being candidates for election, to act as scrutineers for the ballot. Not earlier than thirty minutes before and no later than the commencement of the Annual General Meeting, the Hon Secretary will hand to the scrutineers the envelopes, still sealed, containing the ballot papers and the scrutineers shall thereupon proceed to count the votes. The results of the ballot or ballots, when completed, shall be handed to the Hon Secretary who shall, at the appropriate time in the Agenda, announce the result of the Annual General Meeting. Each member appointed to the Branch office will take up the appointment at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting.

5.3.3 The Hon Secretary shall, within seven days of the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting, send to the Hon General Secretary of the Society a list of all appointments to Branch Office.

5.3.4 If for any reason a vacancy occurs in any one of the Branch Offices, the Branch Officers will appoint a member of the Branch to hold that office until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting.

5.3.6 The Branch Officers shall conduct the affairs of the Branch in such a way as to serve the best interests of the Branch members provided that they shall do nothing which conflicts with the rules of the Society or of the Branch or of the general policy laid down from time to time by the members meeting in Ordinary Meetings.

5.3.7 The Branch Members will at their Annual General Meetings appoint an Honorary Auditor who will report on the accounts of the Branch to the Annual General Meeting. For this purpose a report in writing will be sufficient. The Honorary Auditor so appointed will serve until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting when they may be re-elected.

5.4 Branch Officers shall be as defined in rule 5.4.1 and elected at the Annual General Meeting to serve for the following terms:

5.4.2 A Branch Officer or the Branch Officers en-bloc may be removed from office at any time provided that a motion to that effect is put to the Branch Members meeting in Ordinary or Extraordinary Meetings.

5.5 The Branch Members may appoint a committee or members for any such general purpose as may be deemed necessary to facilitate the objects of the Branch.

5.6 The Branch Members shall have the power to co-opt not more than two members who shall not have the power to vote, such members to hold office for a defined period or until the next Annual General Meeting, whichever is the shorter.

6.1 The Branch will hold at least three ordinary general meetings during each year for the purpose of conducting Branch business.

6.2 The Branch Annual General Meeting will be held each year, prior and subject to it fitting in with the schedule of the EPS AGM.

6.3 The Chairman and Secretary will arrange the agenda and programme for all Branch meetings.

6.4 The Chairman will, at the Annual General Meeting, give an Annual Report on the Branch Activities.

6.5 Notices of motion for the Branch Annual General meeting will be submitted to the Hon Secretary at least twenty-one clear days before the meeting at which it will “be put”. All notices of motion will be placed on the agenda which shall be circulated in writing to all members at least fourteen days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.

6.6 A quorum for the Branch Annual General Meeting shall not be less than 25% of the current membership of the Branch.

6.7 A Special General Meeting of the Branch may be convened by a majority of the Branch Officers or on a request in writing to the Hon Secretary setting out the nature of the business and signed by not less than 60% of the current Branch Membership.

6.8 The Hon Secretary shall give not less than fourteen clear days notice to branch members of the date, time and nature of the business to be discussed at the Special General Meeting.

6.9 No other business than that stated in notice shall be brought before the Special General Meeting.

6.10 A quorum for a Special General Meeting shall not be less than 25% of the current Branch membership.

6.11 All meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the standing orders approved in Ordinary General Meeting or at the Annual General Meeting.

7.1 The Branch shall receive funds from the Society Honorary Treasurer on an annual basis based on a per capita rate decided by Council for the sole purpose of conducting its business and no investments from the fund shall be made.

7.2 The Branch may apply to the Council for additional financial support from Society funds for a special project or event that would contribute
to the furtherance of the Society’s objectives. The application should
be in the form of a written submission to the Council by the Branch
Representative, which should identify the aims and purposes, the modus operandi, the required financial support and the expected benefits. The decision whether, and if so at what level, to provide financial support shall rest with the Council, but it may authorise the Officers to approve such support within a fixed time limit. Any support approved by the Officers shall be reported to the Council at its next meeting.

7.3   The Branch shall receive an annual fee from Branch members in
           addition to the annual subscription. This fee shall be determined by
           members at the Annual General Meeting.

8.1 The branch Officers shall have the power to determine any question that may arise concerning the interpretation of any part of these rules.

8.2 New rules or alteration to rules, subject to sub-rule 8.3, shall only be made at a Special or Annual General Meeting of the Branch.

8.3 Any motion to introduce a new rule or to amend the existing rules shall become effective only on a majority vote of not less than two-thirds of the members voting.

9.1 The Branch shall be dissolved only by a resolution of a properly convened Special or Annual General Meeting and such dissolution will take effect only after confirmation of a resolution by a majority vote of not less than two-thirds of the membership of the Branch in a postal ballot held for this purpose.

9.2 In the event of a dissolution of the Branch the Branch Officers shall realise and distribute the assets of the Branch in a manner directed by the resolution agreed by the Branch members confirming such dissolution.

Review date: January 2003

Emergency Planning Society (Republic of Ireland Branch)

Cumann na Pleanala Eigeandala (Craobh Phoblacht na hEireann)

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP (Please complete in CAPITALS in black ink)

1. Title________________ 2. Surname____________________________________

(Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss etc.)

3. Used forename or nickname___________________________________________

4. Hons/Deg/Dec etc. __________________________________________________

5. Current Appointment ________________________________________________

6. Employing Organisation _____________________________________________

7. Office Address _____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________ ______________postcode______________

8. STD Code and Tel. No. ______________________________________________

Fax No. ______________________________________________

E-mail address ______________________________________________

9. Address for correspondence___________________________________________

(if different from No. 7 above) ___________________________________________

_____________________ Postcode______________

DECLARATION (please tick as appropriate)

I declare that I will support the objectives of the Society and abide by its rules.

I certify that I am involved in emergency planning and management in a professional,

managerial, or operational capacity

I do not work in emergency planning and management but I am interested in,

or am a student of, this subject

Signed __________________________________________Date_________________

See over for instructions completing after

The Society's preferred method of payment is Cheque, Postal Order or Company Purchase Order Number. Under no Circumstances Can Cash be Accepted.

I hereby enclose my subscription to the Emergency Planning Society (Republic of Ireland Branch) for the year in the amount of € __________.

New members joining after 1^st July shall pay half the annual rate (€ 50 ) in the first year and the full rate thereafter.

Fire safety engineering is the application of scientific, technological and behavioural principles and techniques in the process of achieving a fire safe environment. With the advent of performance based regulation, the demand for professionals having knowledge and skills appropriate to the practice of fire safety engineering has increased dramatically. In addressing this niche market, this programme aims to provide students not only with a comprehensive understanding of the scientific and technological principles and techniques but the skills and expertise to enable them to develop and apply appropriate techniques in building design.

Since its inception in 1991, the course has attracted students from many different educational and cultural backgrounds who on completion of their studies have progressed to interesting and diverse careers in fields related to fire safety across the globe. The programme enables those with a background in engineering or science to specialise in this relatively new and exciting area. Although the focus of the programme is on fire safety engineering design, the course has proved useful to those involved in many aspects related to fire safety generally such as fire brigade personnel, architects, regulators, code officials, and managers of complex buildings and facilities, ie, all those for whom a knowledge and understanding of issues related to fire and its impact on the environment is paramount to the execution of their duties.

The PG Dip/MSc Fire Safety Engineering programme offered at the University of Ulster is the only such programme in the United Kingdom and one of only a small number of programmes worldwide which provides the opportunity for graduates in engineering or science to specialise in this important field.

The programme is offered by the Fire Safety Engineering Research and Technology Centre (Fire SERT), a centre which is internationally recognised for its research in the fields of fire dynamics, structural fire engineering, human behaviour in fire, and more recently fire modelling. The programme draws on the expertise and resources of the Centre in terms of teaching staff (with core teaching staff all actively involved in research) and experimental facilities. The new, state-of-the-art experimental facilities, to be operational in 2002, are unrivalled within the University sector anywhere in the world. Students on the MSc programme will have the opportunity to use these facilities both within the taught programme and to progress experimental research projects.

The programme is a linked programme of awards leading to either a post-graduate Diploma (comprising eight taught modules) or MSc (eight taught modules plus research dissertation) in Fire Safety Engineering. Diploma students who perform to a required standard in the taught modules will be invited to transfer to MSc programme and dissertation in a chosen research

A unique aspect of this course, which stems from Fire SERT’s international recognition in the field of human behaviour in fire, is a module People and Fire, dedicated to the evacuation behaviour and movement of people during fire and the significance of this in the overall context of fire safety engineering design and management.

In the future, it is expected that additional, optional modules reflecting market needs and research expertise will be developed to complement the existing programme.

The programme is run in both full-time and part-time modes; the full-time programme being completed within one year, the part-time programme over three years.

The programme is also offered on a part-time block release basis requiring attendance at the University of Ulster’s Jordanstown campus for four weeks in each academic year for two years, followed by research dissertation (one year). Modules are taught in two week blocks in September (Semester 1) and January (Semester 2). Students complete coursework over the remainder of each of the Semesters and sit examinations in January (Semester 1) and May (Semester 2).

Semester 1 Modules: Heat Transfer and Thermofluids, Fire Engineering Laboratories

Semester 2 Modules: People and Fire, Fire Chemistry

The demand for well-educated fire safety engineers is increasingly dramatically, with the opportunities in the field of fire safety generally, wide ranging. Graduates from the University of Ulster programme are employed in interesting and diverse careers in fields related to fire safety both in the UK and worldwide. Many are employed as fire safety engineering design consultants, while others have embarked upon careers as regulators, code officials, fire safety officers in both the public and private sector, researchers in research and testing facilities, and ranking officers in fire brigades both in the UK and Europe. Specific examples include one student who, with a background in Construction Engineering and Management, now manages a fire engineering programme of sponsored research for a Building Codes Board in Australasia, another, a structural engineer, is responsible for tunnel fire safety in new and existing tunnel networks in New South Wales, another is employed as an engineer for the American Bureau of Shipping and is involved in fire safety engineering aspects related to offshore oil exploration, production and storage.

Applicants for the MSc programme should normally possess a second class honours degree or better in a science or engineering discipline from a recognised institution. Candidates for the Diploma should normally possess a degree or better in a science or engineering discipline from a recognised institution and have been in related professional employment for an least one year. Other qualifications deemed by the Senate of the University of Ulster to be equivalent may be considered.

BRANCH RULES