A Strike Team was sent from (name suppressed).
The strike team had been available (at their brigade stations) since 12 midday.
It was estimated that most of the crew would have been awake since 0700hrs.
It took approx. 1 hour 45 minutes to drive from (name suppressed) to a staging area.
Upon arrival, crews waited while information was gathered.
Crews were provided with water and snack packs.
They were sent to the fire ground on an evening shift.
The Strike Team was stood down at 0300hrs.
They drove back to (name suppressed).
It would be fair to say that the crew members had been awake for almost 24 hours.
Do you have a similar story?
We are hearing stories of frustrated firefighters who are deployed, only to sit around without doing much (sometimes without doing anything). This in itself is tiring.
Did the cracks contribute to the roll over?
There was a report of a vehicle roll over (NSW RFS Cat 9) near Narrabri on Monday 22nd Jan 2018.
The welfare of those involved is the highest of priorities. It does appear that everyone is okay without serious injury.
It is now very important that the NSW RFS acts upon any reports received to determine if this accident (reported as a tyre failure) or the resulting vehicle roll over are in any way connected to the faulty wheels that were reported in November 2017.
Cracked Wheels
1. The wheel in the photo was fitted to a NSW RFS Cat 9 response vehicle.
2. The NSW RFS has not issued a safety notice or safety alert about this issue.
3. There has not been any recalls of these wheels.
4. There does not seem to be any Safety Alerts issued in 2017 (no Safety Alerts about any topic).
5. We have been informed that the Hawkesbury District has replaced five wheels.
6. Apparently, these wheels were specified to reduce vehicle weight.
7. It has been reported that at least two different vehicles have had cracked wheels.
We are not suggesting that the NSW RFS has failed to properly respond to this issue but we would like to know if this issue has occurred more frequently than reported.
Conflict of interest and natural justice in an RFS Disciplinary hearing
Today’s question relates to the application of natural justice and conflicts of interests in NSW RFS disciplinary matters. My correspondent asks:
Can an appointed investigator of alleged allegations against a RFS volunteer be then placed as the Chairperson of the Zone Discipline Panel to make decisions on the same allegations?
The critical issue here is ‘natural justice’. One of the key elements of natural justice is that the decision maker must not have a stake in the matter and must hear from both sides and decide the issue before them without prior judgment.
Appropriate Duty of Care or Over-Complication?
A volunteer sent us an email and a document that was circulated from a Fire Control Centre recently. We have decided to share this information in a quest to discover if this Tick Insect Bite Pro Forma documentation is widespread and are there other injury specific forms in use.
The Tick Insect Bite Pro Forma is dated August 2016 and the document control states that it is version 1.3.
The questions being asked on the form are:
1. Was insect repellent containing Picaridin (e.g. Johnson ‘OFF!’ repellent) available to the injured member on the day of injury? If yes, did the injured member apply the repellent before commencing work and reapply as necessary during work?
2. On the day of injury did the Supervisor remind the injured member that repellent MUST be applied prior to work, then reapplied at regular intervals (particularly when sweating)?
3. When the tick was found was the removal undertaken by a competent first aider and can you confirm that the whole tick was removed (i.e. No head left behind)? If more than one tick, specify number of ticks.
4. What part(s) of the body were bitten by the tick(s)?
5. Has the injured member had any medical complications from the tick bite(s)?
What is the volunteer perception of this form?
National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services
beyondblue is undertaking the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services to build a comprehensive picture of the mental health and wellbeing of police and emergency services personnel in Australia.
There is nothing more important than the mental health and wellbeing of the people who serve and protect our communities every day. This is a landmark piece of research beyondblue is undertaking, and I am delighted that almost every police and emergency services agency in Australia is participating. The information we generate will enable us to improve and strengthen our approach to protecting those who protect us, to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Ken Lay AO APM, Chair of the Advisory Group of the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services
Establishing WHS procedures in the NSW RFS by Michael Eburn
In Mr Eburns’ post:
1. Mr Eburn can’t say whether there has been any, or adequate consultation on the establishment of workgroups.
2. The fact that Mr Eburns’ correspondent does not ‘believe that 49 HSRs are sufficient nor does this represent the different work groups’ is irrelevant. The question is ‘has the establishment of the workgroups been arrived at in consultation, and by agreement, with the workers?’
3. The process for the RFS to conduct elections of HSRs appears to Mr Eburn to be inconsistent with the Act. It is up to each workgroup to determine how HSRs will be elected.
4. Without a detailed examination, the Service Standard looks broadly consistent with the Act and Regulation (with the exception of the election of HSR representatives discussed at (3), above) noting that if there is an inconsistency, the Act and/or Regulation will prevail.
5. Mr Eburn does not see any issue with respect to a perceived ‘lack of urgency’ in the resolution of health and safety issues.
Of course if there has not been proper consultation on the establishment of workgroups and the health and safety consultation arrangements then that is another matter. The model of the Act anticipates that resolution of health and safety issues, including the processes for consultation and resolution, will be subject to cooperative negotiation between the PCBU and its workers. If that has not occurred the PCBU’s policy, no matter how comprehensive and otherwise in line with Act, fails at the first hurdle. As noted, Mr Eburn cannot say whether or not there has been adequate consultation on the preparation of this service standard.
PPE must be provided by the RFS
Concerned volunteer shares an email with us…
Members of the Central Coast District were advised via email on Friday 26th May that the RFS has no stocks of current PPC and if new members require gear they will have to beg or borrow PPC from other members.
Draft Grievance Service Standards for Comment
The following Draft Service Standards are currently out for consultation and members are encouraged to provide feedback.
The VFFA is sharing this material to help provide the widest circulation possible.
Send you feedback or enquiries by email to feedback.standards@rfs.nsw.gov.au or provide your feedback via the MyRFS forums.
1. Consultation Draft Service Standard 1.1.3 – Notice of Grievance Form.
2. Consultation Draft Service Standard 1.1.3 Grievances v3.0
RFS Volunteer Fire Fighter Discipline Procedures in Need of Reform
The VFFA is concerned that in NSW volunteer rural fire-fighters who are subject to disciplinary action and who lodge grievances against paid staff have no option than to place faith in a system that is owned, controlled and arbitrated by the RFS.
Under the NSW Rural Fires Regulation 1997 a member of a rural fire brigade can be guilty of a breach of discipline if they are negligent, careless, inefficient or incompetent in the discharge of their duties. Hence the grounds for bringing discipline charges against a volunteer rural fire fighter are very broad, poorly defined and wide open to interpretation.