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RESEARCH PROVIDES INSIGHT ON
VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS
A number of programs researching volunteers will
help the RFS ensure volunteer firefighter needs are
understood and met.
FIREGROUND DECISION-MAKING
RFS volunteer firefighters will have the chance to
provide information on the pressures under which
firefighters have to make decisions. Interviewers
from the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre
(CRC) will talk to firefighters as soon as possible
after coming from the fireground, while memories
are fresh.
This knowledge is necessary to assist firefighters
make decisions which keep themselves and others
safe. The interview takes about and hour (and
takes place after a meal and rest if required). The
information is private and confidential. Firefighters
can end the interview at any time and have the
option to later contact interviewers to request them
not to use the information.
PERCEPTIONS OF AND BARRIERS TO
VOLUNTEERING
The CRC, RFS Region West management and
RFS Volunteer Relations Unit have been working
together to develop a survey for communities in
western NSW. The survey is designed to glean
information as to how the public perceive the
Service, its volunteers and why people volunteer.
The survey will also include questions to address
the likely barriers to volunteering. The findings will
assist those recruiting new members of the Service
- particularly in the declining rural communities of
the State.
Communities chosen for the survey project are
Tibooburra, Ivanhoe, Trundle, Tullamore, Tottenham,
Nyngan, Coonamble, Lightning Ridge, Mumbil,
Stockinbingal, Ariah Park, Trangie and Rankin Springs.
The survey is expected to canvass 5,000
individual homes from these communities.
V 21- VOLUNTEERING FOR THE
21ST CENTURY
About 250 RFS volunteers will be surveyed as
part of the research project, “V21 Enhancing
Volunteering for the 21st Century”.
The RFS Volunteer Relations Unit has assisted
researchers from the Australian Catholic University
to survey volunteer engagement in and to the
Service. Engagement involves the attraction
to, initial engagement with, transition into the
organisation, and ongoing commitment to the task
of volunteering and life within the RFS culture.
The research findings will assist volunteer
recruitment drives and will be published in a report
available from the Volunteer Relations Unit next year.
Following issue of the V21 Report, the Volunteer
Relations Unit will be holding a number of small
focus groups during June and July 2005. Locations
for these focus groups will be advised in the next
few months. The focus groups will be used to
discuss and explore implications for the RFS and its
recruitment practice.
NATIONAL FORUM FOR FEMALE
FIREFIGHTERS
The first ever Australian national forum for women
involved in firefighting on 12 & 13 May was
organised by the University of Western Sydney and
attended by RFS members. The conference was
supported by the RFS Volunteer Relations Unit and
a number of other emergency services. The forum is
intended to :
> Recognise and celebrate the contribution of
women to firefighting in Australia
> Discuss the issues faced by women in firefighting
> Develop strategies and support networks and
> Encourage greater participation of women in all
aspects of firefighting and fire management
The forum is not designed to create a separatist
movement, or to pit female firefighters against
male firefighters. Women firefighters have expressed
a strong wish to network, meet other women
firefighters, celebrate why they love the job, find role
models of senior firefighting women, and talk about
ways of fostering change. Research has indicated
that this would best be done, in the first instance,
with women talking to women. For this reason, the
first national forum is a women’s only event.
INSURANCE
COVER FOR RFS
TANKERS
Recently there has been some discussion about
the level of insurance cover for RFS tankers,
especially for property damage.
Questions about insurance cover and the
Service are raised from time to time, and
volunteers need to know that they will be
covered under all circumstances.
The Service has invested considerable effort
in training and equipment to try to prevent
accidents from occurring, but unfortunately
accidents can happen.
Volunteer firefighters are covered for
personal injury under existing workers’
compensation arrangements. They are also
covered for public liability in the event of
negligence.
As far as RFS tankers are concerned, they are
covered by insurance for personal injuries caused
to either volunteers or members of the public.
Because the value of the tanker plays a
part in determining insurance premiums, local
councils have arranged for property damage
coverage. This cost is covered by a 100 percent
reimbursement by the Service.
However, some councils, particularly in
western NSW, have chosen not to take up this
offer and let their property coverage lapse.
This does not mean any responsibility or
liability for volunteers. It does leave the local
ratepayers exposed to the risks that follow
from not carrying adequate insurance.
The Service is working to encourage these
councils to resume their property damage
coverage, but in the end this is their choice.
But it is the council and not RFS volunteers that
carries the liability in the event of an accident.
Hazard reduction in Gosford.
Photo by Rolf Poole
Community Safety Officer Gosford
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