From Firefighter to Fire Risk Assessor: All in the Name of Safety

Here’s a piece written by our resident Managing Fire Risk Assessor, Matt Digby – you can find the original article here.

Fire safety; fire protection; fire prevention. Whatever you call or refer to it as, it’s the industry I’m lucky enough to call “home”.

My background is varied but, fundamentally, my journey began working as a firefighter. Back in 2013 I joined the Essex County Fire & Rescue service, where I’d stay for almost 3 years. It’s this experience I find myself thinking back to, often when I’m advising a client on what they need to be doing or walking through a fire risk assessment. My first experience within the fire industry – right in the thick of it, doing just what I considered my bit in protecting people across the county – gave me an incredible sense of team and spirit. This is a feeling which I now know continues to grow over time.

Fast forward close to ten years, through a couple of different jobs and ventures – I find myself back in the fire safety world. That invaluable experience as a firefighter is perhaps, maybe even presumably what drove me back here. Seeing the effect fire can have on people’s lives with my own eyes has given me a unique perspective, and a boat load of empathy. It means that, coupled with the extensive list of certifications and education I’ve put myself through since Excel began two years ago now, I advise clients using my head AND my heart. That’s something I’m incredibly proud to admit.

And I’m certain I’m not the only one.

Something I’ve really come to love about our industry, something which gives me some of the huge passion and motivation I have for my own job and for Excel Fire’s vision, is the idea of working at something which is bigger than all of us. Yes, we’re a business; yes, we have competitors in the market. But ourselves and each of those competitors has a purpose which goes beyond just making money and paying the bills.

When it comes to consulting in the fire industry, it’s our job to protect the livelihoods of our clients. But, more than that, it’s everyone’s aim – and responsibility, priority, driving force – to protect the lives of the public. All in the name of safety.

I’m proud to be surrounded by so many consummate fire safety professionals – those with whom I work at Excel, and those externally who continue to raise the bar in our industry and motivate myself and the team to be better. Let’s call this an appreciation post, to each and every one of them.