The London Fire Brigade have been praised by Mayor Boris Johnson for using e-learning to improve safety and knowledge within the brigade.

London Fire Brigade’s station manager and e-learning project manager, Philip Evans, was awarded an Individual Special Achievement Award at the annual London Fire Brigade Special Achievement Awards. Evands’ training support team introduced a number of initiatives, including a blended e-learning programme to provide training for the introduction of new breathing apparatus last year, as well as a module on dealing with fires in timber-framed buildings.

Evans said that the introduction of e-learning had brought significant benefits to the London Fire Brigade. “We’ve saved hundreds of thousands of pounds. And we have credible results on increased knowledge and raised awareness. There has been marked improvement in, for example, health and safety on the ‘incident ground’. In addition, operationally urgent training has been much quicker and easier to release since the introduction of e-learning.”

Boris Johnson said: “These award winners are a fine example of the breadth of dedication and professionalism within the LFB, which helps make London one of the safest big cities in the world.”