CURRENT
NATIONAL SECURITY ALERT LEVEL: MEDIUM
Prime
Minister acknowledges FRNSW USAR efforts
On
Tuesday night I attended a special reception at Parliament House in
Canberra
, hosted by the Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard MP and Attorney
General Robert McLelland MP, to acknowledge the efforts of Australian
emergency service workers in
Japan
and
New Zealand
earlier this year. Representatives from all agencies in
Australia
which participated in the response and recovery efforts attended, with
FRNSW represented by Chief Superintendents Rob McNeil, Gary Picken,
and Paul McGuiggan, Superintendent Warwick Kidd, and Inspectors Tim
Fox and Steve Hirst.
Thanks
from the
New Zealand
Fire Service
The
Chief Executive and National Commander of the New Zealand Fire
Service, Mike Hall AFSM, recently wrote to me expressing his sincere
appreciation for the support and professionalism of FRNSW personnel
following the
Christchurch
earthquake. See the letter of thanks here. (NOTE: only available
on intranet - Webmaster)
USAR
Task Force Leaders meet with the Governor of Bali
Last
Friday, Governor I Made Mangku Pastika AO, Governor of Bali, visited
FRNSW to discuss the work that we do, particularly related to our
recent international USAR deployments, and to hear first hand from our
Task Force Leaders, Chief Superintendents John Denny, Gary Picken and
Rob McNeil. The Deputy State Director of the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade has thanked FRNSW for hosting the presentation and
demonstration of equipment, stating that he found the event personally
inspirational.
Firefighter
Championships - Parkes
Along
with Assistant Commissioner Jim Hamilton and Deputy Commissioner
Rosemary Milkins, I attended and opened the Firefighter Championships
in Parkes last Saturday. Twenty-three Brigades came for the weekend of
competition and with great weather and very well maintained track,
teams achieved some outstanding times. Zone records were set in Events
2 (Urban Pump Disable), 9 (Hose and Hydrant – 4 competitors), and 11
(Urban Pump Suction). A new record was set for Event 6 (Rescue), and a
State record bettered in Event 10 (Hose and Hydrant – 2
competitors).
The
'In Zone Champion' team was Kelso, closely followed by Mudgee and
Delroy, while the 'Out of Zone Champion' team was Kootingal RFS
followed by Dorrigo and Echuca (Victoria). Overall top five placings
for the weekend: 1st place Kootingal RFS; 2nd place Kelso; 3rd place
Dorrigo; 4th place Echuca; and 5th place Tenterfield.
A
number of Brigades took the opportunity to return to Championships
after a long break, and it was pleasing to see 419 Peak Hill, 212
Balranald and 513 Young back on the track. The attendance of our
friends from Echuca CFA in Victoria and Kootingal RFS was also
welcomed as they continue to push FRNSW teams to a higher level. A big
thank you to 417 Parkes and the Championship Committee for once again
providing a great weekend of competition.
Safety
focus - keeping an eye on near misses
Reporting
near misses is an important part of improving our safety management
system and determining what needs to be done to reduce the risk of
injury, illness or exposure. Near miss reports can help us to
eliminate hazards altogether, or to take action to reduce and minimise
the risk. We can isolate a hazard or use a control that will reduce
the risk, such as putting guards on a machine. We can also look at
other measures such as reviewing our safe work practices, training or
PPE (as we are currently doing in a number of areas).
There
are many positive actions that can come out of a notification of a
near miss, especially when staff discuss possible safety solutions
with their supervisor before completing the preventative action
section of the NIIENM form. This can help our OH&S staff with a
systematic analysis of the near miss report, and examination of the
root causes of safety failures. Some of the most simple and effective
ideas come from the input of those who started the whole process of
notification in the first place, so don’t look at the NIIENM form as
“just another bit of paper to fill in”.
100th
birthday celebration – Superintendent Vic Crum (Retired)
Last
Sunday, firefighters from 1 City of
Sydney
helped celebrate retired Superintendent (equivalent to today’s rank
of Assistant Commissioner) Victor Crum’s surprise 100th birthday
party at the Bonnie Doon Golf Club at Pagewood. The crew turned up
with a modern appliance as well as a 1928 vintage pumper, with crew
dressed in the old “lion tamer’s suit” and brass helmets that
Supt Crum wore when he was a firefighter.
Inspector
Wayne Buxton, Duty Commander ME1 ‘B’ accompanied the crew,
recalling that Mr Crum was
Wayne
’s boss at Headquarters in 1967. Assistant Commissioner Mark Brown
and Supt Peter Stathis, Zone Commander ME1 also attended. The family
and Supt Crum were delighted to know that he is still considered a
very special member of our “family”.
Recruit
Graduation
Last
Friday, 20 new firefighters graduated from our recruit firefighter
training program at the
State
Training
College
. Firefighter Jess Grimwood’s graduation was a very special occasion
for her family. Jess is now following in her Dad’s and Uncle’s
footsteps (both Andrew and Ian are Station Officers), and this is the
first time we have had father-daughter firefighters serving with us at
the same time. Congratulations to Vesna Aleksic who received the
Commissioner’s Merit Award.
Kincumber
and Baulkham Hills stations now open
Following
a protracted period of planning and assessment that began in 2000 - a
new FRNSW station was opened on 16 May at Kincumber on the
Central
Coast
with 10/14 crewing. Construction of the new station began in July last
year after years of environmental and other reviews, and it was
completed this month. The environmentally friendly building has been
constructed to meet the latest bushfire standards, and contains a
solar hot water system and rainwater collection tanks. See the
intranet article for more details.
The
new Baulkham Hills station also came on line this week, with crews
moving out of the old 67 Northmead which was poorly placed for
response times to the Hills area, and which was not to the standard
required for firefighters.
Retirees
receive Long Service and Good Conduct Medals
Last
Thursday I was proud to present several of our retired members with
their Long Service and Good Conduct Medals at a ceremony at City of
Sydney Fire Station
. I was proud to share this occasion with old friends including
retired SO Gordon “Bubbles” Rice, Insp Stan Grunsell, Supt Charles
Oxenham, SF Bill Carruthers, SF Leon Bunn, SO Alan Sheppard, Supt Jeff
Bender and other dedicated former officers and firefighters.
NFD
- No fire deaths
Martin
Luther King was famous for his famous words: ‘I have a dream’.
FRNSW also has a dream – No Fire Deaths, and the Community Safety
Directorate is leading the way to achieve it.
A
three pronged approach is being taken to achieve our goal of zero
preventable fire deaths: 1) planned and coordinated responses – the
right resources in the right place; 2) effective community safety
programs – state-wide and programs targeted to specific local risks;
and 3) fire research and safer buildings – increasing fire safety in
the design and maintenance of fire safety measures in buildings.
Assistant
Commissioner Jim Smith and his staff have been coordinating Community
Safety Forums each week at locations such as Greenacre, Huntingwood,
Newcastle
, the
Central
Coast
and
Wollongong
. Regional forums are planned for later this year. These forums are
specifically designed for each station, highlighting the community
profile, emergency management profile, CARS station data, bushfire and
false alarm profile for each area. Discussion then occurs around the
specific risks in each station area, how best these can be addressed
and how we can support individual stations in their community
engagement planning. The feedback from stations so far has been very
encouraging.
National
Reconciliation Week – Let’s talk recognition
National
Reconciliation Week is an annual celebration from 27 May to 3 June.
This year’s theme ‘let’s
talk recognition’ is a time for all of us to
reflect on our shared histories, contributions and achievements. We
will be marking the occasion and recognising the achievements and
contribution of Aboriginal people to FRNSW and the community, at an
event we’re holding at 1 City of Sydney next Wednesday and during a
launch at Redfern Fire Station on Thursday.
Review
of the physical aptitude test (PAT)
The
University
of
Wollongong
has recently started work on reviewing the Physical Aptitude Test with
the aim of improving alignment with the tasks performed by
firefighters. To analyse the physical demands of firefighting, the
university has held focus groups with over 100 firefighters throughout
NSW. When that information is collated, the university will validate
the data by conducting an organisation-wide survey. This research
project will provide recommendations on physical employment standards
and I encourage all operational personnel to complete the survey when
it is available. For more information, see the intranet article.
4
in 400 Charity Bike Ride spins the wheel
On
8 June, FRNSW cyclists who rode to Wagga Wagga to raise money for the
Burns Unit at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead will be presenting
a cheque for approximately $40,000 to the hospital, as well as a
presentation to FRNSW in gratitude of the support provided for them.
Both Deputy Commissioners John Benson and Rosemary Milkins will be
attending the presentation. Well done everybody who participated in
and supported this fundraising event.
FRNSW
prepares for TRIM
Following
a detailed review, FRNSW will be implementing a new Electronic
Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) to replace the existing
Oracle system. The new system, TRIM, will bring us in line with many
other government departments and ensure that we comply with
legislation for records management.
TRIM
will initially be trialled in the Executive and Ministerial area in
June and then gradually deployed across the organisation over the next
12-15 months. The implementation of TRIM will provide staff with an
effective tool to manage information throughout FRNSW.
INCIDENTS
Truck
fire closes F3
At
1320 hours on Monday 23 May, FRNSW and RFS crews responded to a truck
fire on the F3 Sydney to Newcastle Freeway. The incident occurred in
the north bound lanes one kilometre south of the
Hawkesbury
Bridge
. When 75 Berowra arrived they reported that the prime mover of a
B-double tanker was fully involved in fire with flames threatening to
weaken the cargo tanks which contained 50,000 litres of sodium
hydroxide.
There
were concerns that if the tanks ruptured, the sodium hydroxide would
flow down the steep incline directly into the
Hawkesbury
River
and severely impact oyster farms located in the vicinity. 9 Hazmat and
228
Berkeley
Vale Hazmat were responded as well as 341 Kariong together with RFS
water tankers. Firefighters worked in difficult circumstances for 30
minutes to protect the tanks and finally extinguished the fire.
All
northbound traffic on the F3 was stopped, and drivers and passengers
near the incident were directed to leave their vehicles and walk to a
safe area outside a 400m exclusion zone. The driver of the truck
luckily escaped and was transported to hospital for treatment.
Once
the fire was extinguished, an inspection of the tanks determined that
they had not been breached. The priority for fire crews quickly turned
to reopening traffic lanes to relieve the growing peak hour
congestion. At 1530 hours, one northbound lane was reopened with a 2nd
lane reopened at 1600 hours and the 3rd at 1715. Recovery of the
vehicle was delayed until after peak hour.
Hazmat
crews returned to the site at 2000 hours and assisted in a lengthy
process to transfer product to another tanker. The area was declared
safe after the damaged truck was removed from the site just after
midnight. Minister for Roads and Ports, the Hon. Duncan Gay MLC,
commented on the excellent work of emergency services in dealing with
the incident quickly and having the lanes rapidly reopened to relieve
peak hour congestion on one of NSW’s busiest major motorways.
2nd
Alarm fruit shop fire at Punchbowl
At
1702 hours on Sunday 22 May, crews were responded to a two-level
building alight in Punchbowl. Numerous 000 calls were received, with
many reports that people were trapped on an upstairs balcony. 62
Bankstown
arrived within six minutes and reported that a fruit shop on the
ground floor and a residence above, were well alight, and requested a
2nd Alarm response.
Crews
from 62
Bankstown
, 64 Lakemba, 47 Revesby, 34 Riverwood, 52 Campsie, and 27
Parramatta
attended the incident. The ground floor of the building was totally
involved and there were fears that an LPG cylinder was exposed to
flames within the building and could explode. Fortunately, the
occupants of the building were able to escape from their balcony to
adjoining premises prior to FRNSW arrival. Firefighters conducted a
full search of the building to ensure there were no trapped occupants.
It
took firefighters twenty minutes to knock the fire down and another
half hour to finally extinguish. One adult and two children were
treated by ambulance paramedics for minor smoke inhalation and
transported to hospital for further treatment. Both levels of the
building were severely damaged and the cause of the fire is still
under investigation.
ASK
THE COMMISSIONER
Q.
The KPMG culture climate survey last year identified that many
firefighters think outside organisations, such as the Masonic Lodge,
have inappropriate influence on the brigade. Are you and have you ever
been a member of the Masonic Lodge?
A.
No and no. The KPMG review is a most valuable document, as it helped
to identify a range of areas where major change and improvement is
needed. It was not a case of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), me
as Commissioner, or an external consultant deciding what the
problems were – instead the answers came directly from a large
slice of the service: permanent and retained firefighters,
technical, trades and administrative staff (ie, you). The ELT
and I have listened, and the report is guiding our program of
culture change. The next issue of Fire & Rescue News discusses
this in more detail.
With
regard to the Masonic Lodge, there is a strong perception of
inappropriate influence. However much of this seems to be based on
history and myth, as there is little or no evidence of the sort of
influence alluded in the KPMG review. That having been said,
inappropriate influence in any form by any organisation or
individual will not be tolerated in FRNSW, as it goes against our
values of honesty and integrity and depending on its form, could
constitute corrupt conduct. Ostracising people for being members of
any particular group also goes against our values, and this also
will not be tolerated. If you do have any evidence of inappropriate
influence or people being ostracised for belonging to a particular
group I encourage you to report it via the complaints hotline (1300
78 78 51) and it will be investigated.
People
have a right to be members of any external organisations provided
that such membership does not breach the Code of Conduct or other
FRNSW policies.
Q.
Why aren't Contractors able to apply for any internal positions when
they are available, noting I’ve been here for a few years now?
This ruling seems to differ between NSW departments/agencies and
I’m worried that unless I’m made permanent, I will never have an
opportunity to further my career (and bring across the breadth of my
skills & experience) to FRNSW.
A:
Key
differences between permanent employees and contractors are as
follows:
- employees have
an ongoing expectation of work, whereas contractors are usually
engaged for a specific short term task
- contractors
tend to have special skills, knowledge and experience allowing them relative autonomy
in how their work is progressed (unlike employees who are completely
supervised by their employer)
As contractors
are expected to be experts in their field, the rationale
is that learning and professional development opportunities
tend to be less relevant for them, than for
employees who have not yet reached this stage of their careers and
may require acting up opportunities and formalised training to grow
and develop into roles they aspire to.
As
competent business professionals, contractors are always just
as eligible to apply for roles in open competition as existing
employees, however during restructures it is usual for existing
employees to be given the first opportunity to apply for changed
roles. FRNSW considers that this is the fair and reasonable
thing to do for existing permanent employees.
COMMISH’S
CORNER