COMMISH’S CORNER

Friday 4 March, 2005 Number 337 NSWFB The Rumour Mill No (02) 9265 2627
CURRENT NATIONAL SECURITY ALERT LEVEL : MEDIUM

COMMISSIONER’S BUSINESS
Reduced fire risk cigarettes
Our role in preventing fires is a vital one, and today I helped our Minister Tony Kelly to put the case for national legislation for reduced fire risk cigarettes to the Augmented Australasian Police Ministers’ Council in Canberra.

A reduced fire risk cigarette is one which is more likely to self-extinguish when not being smoked, as opposed to a regular cigarette which continues to burn. This feature can be accomplished through design changes, such as using less tobacco, less porous paper, a smaller diameter, a filter tip, the addition of ‘speed humps’ on the filter paper and the elimination of citrates that are added to the paper to maintain burning.

At the meeting, I outlined figures that show cigarettes are the leading cause of fires resulting in fatalities. In the past eight years, 20 out of 141 fire deaths (28 per cent) in NSW were attributed to cigarettes. Figures from AIRS show around 4600 fires are caused by cigarettes and smoking materials in Australia each year. This is more than 12 fires a day. In NSW, cigarettes account for at least five per cent of structure fires and approximately three per cent of all fires.

New York State already has laws requiring that only reduced fire risk cigarettes be sold, and Canada will follow later this year.

The meeting of Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers unanimously endorsed the proposal to develop a standard for a cigarette that self-extinguishes on being dropped. This is an important initiative, which increases our standing as a world leader in the area of public fire safety, and could prove in time to be as important of the introduction of bicycle helmets.

Many thanks to Assistant Commissioner Ken Thompson, Director Corporate Strategy Carmel Donnelly, Chief Superintendent Chris Lewis, Corporate Risk Management Coordinator Dr Anne Lear, Fire Safety Officer Dave Myers and the team at Risk Management as well as Research and Information Analyst Susan Broomhall, Manager of Strategic Information Services Nick Nicolopoulos and Manager Community and Media Relations Meredith Jones for their work on this vital project.

Recruit graduation
On Wednesday the Minister for Emergency Services Tony Kelly and I attended the graduation of the 20 newest NSWFB recruits at the State Training College. These new firefighters will soon be taking up their positions in stations across Sydney and are looking forward to playing a vital role in protecting our communities.

At this graduation we also paid tribute to our oldest surviving retired firefighter, Fred Orreill, who turns 100 on 9 March. Fred Orreill joined the NSW Fire Brigades in 1930 at the age of 25 and retired in 1965 as Station Officer at Willoughby Fire Station.

Australian firefighter on the world stage
Once again, the NSWFB proves to be a world leader. The United States Fire Administration’s Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP) has selected Superintendent Mark Brown’s paper, “Stakeholder Views in Relation to the Introduction of Residential Sprinkler Legislation in New South Wales, Australia” as one of its four 2004 Outstanding Applied Research Project Award winners. This is a first for the NSWFB, and Australia. There is an honour board at the US Fire Academy with photos of the authors and details of the winning papers each year. It is a highly sought after award, and very prestigious in the US fire community. We can be justifiably proud of Mark's achievement. Mark is currently on a 12-month secondment to a senior position in the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) in Perth, WA.

RUMOUR MILL
Rumour: Is it true that ISG can access any contents of a station's computer at any time even when a firefighter is online? Are our banking details and passwords, and personal emails being watched?
Response: Yes, ISG staff can remotely access computers connected to the NSWFB’s networks to provide support. Remote access is only utilised to assist staff when they have contacted the Help Desk for assistance. When ISG staff remotely access a computer, a dialog box appears on the screen as a security, privacy and integrity measure to advise the user that the computer is being remotely accessed. The user will also notice that the network icon (two monitors) in the bottom tool bar will change so both monitors show red. As for the banking and password and personal email being watched, the answer is an emphatic NO.

Rumour: Is it true that PAT standards have been lowered or will be lowered at any time in the future?
Response: The PAT is reviewed after every recruitment campaign to ensure that tasks replicate as nearly as practicable the physical requirements of essential firefighting tasks; that they are tests of gross physical ability that have limited skill dependency; and that they are standardised, objective and reliable.

The drum haul task is designed to reflect arm and upper back strength and endurance requirements for hauling/pulling/dragging tasks in the horizontal plane. Lifting the drum over the balcony railing specifically tests shoulder strength. After review, it has been decided to remove the lift component of the test as shoulder strength is specifically tested in other tasks of the PAT. The PAT will be reviewed again at the conclusion of the current recruitment campaign.

NEWS IN BRIEF
Superseded uniform collections

To all those stations that have been sending their superseded uniforms and personal protective equipment to ComSafe for packaging and shipment to overseas locations, ComSafe reports that their storage facility is at breaking point. Even the rats are complaining. ComSafe appreciates the response from stations but requests that, for the time being, stations stockpile the clothing until some of the backlog can be processed. A further Commissioner's Corner notice will advise when the stockpile can be forwarded.

Interested in participating in the first National Women in Firefighting Forum?
I am pleased that the first-ever Australian Women in Firefighting Forum will be held in Sydney on 12 and 13 May 2005. The NSWFB’s early support for this idea helped to give the impetus to make this conference a reality. I will be delivering the first opening address.

The forum will give women firefighters an opportunity to discuss issues, to network with other women firefighters and to hear the presentations by top-class speakers such as Christine Nixon, Commissioner of the Victorian Police. The www.ozfirewomen.info website has more information about the forum if you want more details.

The forum follows on from research carried out by Dr Merilyn Childs of the University of Western Sydney on diversity in the Australian fire services. As part of her research, Dr Childs recently surveyed women firefighters' perceptions about being a woman in firefighting. Thanks to those of you who took time to participate in this survey.

I have agreed that the NSWFB will sponsor a number of women to attend the forum. We will be including a mix of women from our Permanent and Retained Firefighter ranks as well as from our Community Fire Units. If you are interested in attending the forum under NSWFB sponsorship, please complete the linked nomination form and return to Valerie Corbett by email (valerie.corbett @fire.nsw.gov.au) or fax number 02 9265 2885 by Friday 12 March 2005. An initial 15 women will be selected at random, with more selected if additional sponsored places become available.

Surfboard Challenge trophy returns to the NSWFB
The six foot ‘Thruster’ surfboard has been returned to our head office reception this week, following the news that the NSWFB had again beaten the NSW Police and Ambulance Service in the Australia Day Surfboard Tri-Service Challenge.

NSWFB claimed a time of 26 mins 56 secs, while Police clocked in with 35 mins 3 secs and Ambulance 39 mins 19 secs. The winner is determined by aggregating the times of the first three place getters from each organisation. The top three finishers from the NSWFB who helped bring home the trophy were 70 Maroubra’s Adam Payne (29 mins 28 secs), 51 Forestville’s Scott Hill (44 mins 14 secs) and 10 Redfern’s Iain Watt (48 mins 41secs).

The annual 3.5 kilometre paddle begins at Sydney Opera House and finishes at Blues Point Reserve.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Telarah Zone Championships

This weekend I will be attending the NSWFB Firefighters Zone Championship, hosted by 455 Telarah. Firefighters from around the state, particularly the northern region, will gather in Maitland to compete in the championships, which will take place on the grounds of Rutherford Airport.

Aside from events, the weekend will include performances from the NSWFB band and precision drill team, fire education for local schools including a kitchen fat fire simulator, a puppet show, and a mass decontamination tent open for display.

Best of luck to all 23 teams competing.

Clean up Australia Day
This Sunday 6 March is Clean up Australia Day and every year hundreds of thousands of Australians help clean up their local environment on this day.

If your station is involved in local clean-up projects this weekend, please contact your public affairs officer with the details and any photographs. I encourage on-duty crews and retained crews to participate in this worthwhile community service. Refer to In Orders 2003/4 for information on voluntary participation in the event, safety and protection, and special considerations for retained staff.

Aussie rules team gears up for big season
The NSWFB Australian Football Team is competing today in the Father Mac Cup being held at Wagoner Oval at Ashfield, in Sydney. This is a competition primarily for Navy teams, representing naval ships and bases, and the NSWFB has been accepted to play in the round-robin stage. The games will help prepare the team for later competitions, such as the NSW Police Games and the ANZAC Day game between the National Emergency Services Team and the Australian Defence Forces. Stay tuned for details of the two-for-one ticket offer for the ANZAC Day game, the traditional curtain-raiser for the AFL match between the Sydney Swans and the Melbourne Demons at the SCG, to be held on Saturday 23 April.

COMMISH’S CORNER
Commissioner’s e-mail: Commissioner@fire.nsw.gov.au
Cora Sarmiento, Commish’s PA: 9265 2930
PACSU: fax 9265 2882
Commish’s Corner Rumour Mill: 9265 2627
To contribute a story, please contact Public Affairs Officers: Stephen Norris (West) 9265 2613 or John Suter Linton/Tippy Kavalee (South/North) 9265 2802