The Danger of Factions

Factions are a part of life, in fact democracy in our country is faction based. The simple act of voting at Federal or State elections enables, in its simplest form, a faction of individuals to be assembled in a governing body to run the country or state in a reasonable, economical and safe way creating the best infrastructures and living standards. The smaller "losing" faction becomes a voice to point out any alternatives to the governing body in the creation of policy or laws. A separately elected "faction", the senate, is the safety valve for the whole process of governance. The largest faction however is the populace of the country and with the power of combined voice and lobby will ultimately have a last say. Whilst factions can be generally considered the norm in any organisation the real danger is where the majority faction uses its position to oppress minority factions and any views that they have. The same is true of volunteer organisations. These volunteer organisations often do have a "senate" in the governing organisation under whose auspices the individual cell exists, but often their reactions to factional problems are far too slow, if at all they know of any problem in the cell, to react and prevent permanent (and often irreversible) damage to that cell of volunteers. The largest faction, the populace, are usually never aware of issues in their local support organisations, unless the problems are so extreme that they attract media attention, and therefore cannot exercise they powers of protest. Simplicity, teamwork and fellowship are the keys.

Patience is a Leadership Virtue

Strong leadership in any organization requires many virtues: vision, communication skills, project management, empowerment, delegation, coaching skills. One characteristic of effective leaders that you don’t often hear about is patience. Leaders require patience because they deal with people, not machines. Unlike machines, people have many quirks. People are reluctant to change. People develop political alliances and affinities. People have their pet projects, favorite friends and preferred ways of doing things. It takes patience to effectively work with people and accomplish the organization’s goals and objectives. Although there are appropriate times to be impatient and push an agenda, the astute leader knows that patience is very often his or her secret weapon in getting things done. - Kristin Robertson

June, 2004

Another Quote

"I make the most of all that comes, and the least of all that goes." - SARAH TEASDALE

Great Quotation

"I don't believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them." - HAROLD GREEN

Brigade Structure

Today I’d like to talk about Brigade structure..............................

Firstly every organisation need sets of rules or if you like laws that govern what the organisation is to achieve and how to go about achieving their core role, goals and outcomes.

In the case of an RFS Brigade the core role is suppression of fire or likely hood of fire and to facilitate the return to normality.

To achieve this end each Brigade has at their disposal much high end equipment worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

To enable the Brigade to run cohesively and efficiently there are two main sets of “rules” – The Service Standards and The Brigade Constitution along with Standard Operating Procedures. These are all written in conjunction with The Rural Fires Act 1997.

The Brigade can broadly be divided into two areas, Operations and Administration. Let’s firstly deal with these separately.

Operations – Broadly speaking the Brigade Captain by default of rank is responsible for the daily running of Brigade Operations. By Operations we mean the core role of the Brigade, i.e. the suppression of, or potential of fire. In a nut shell the Captain is the supervisor for the daily callouts of the Brigade. However he/she does not do this alone, Brigades have a number of Deputy Captains, usually the number is dependent on the size of the Brigade or how busy that brigade is. These Deputy Captains will share some of the Captains responsibility as it is ludicrous to expect the Captain to attend every callout. A Deputy Captain may oversee equipment maintenance, another may manage training, and another supervises operational paperwork. The Brigade may have an Equipment Officer and a Training Officer; the Deputy Captains are only there to ensure these important roles are happening and to assist in that end. However the bottom line is that the Captain will and should be willing to advise and assist with any operational problem that a Deputy Captain or any member comes up against, not only in a physical hands on job sense but that all operational paperwork is completed, dispatched and filed. The extensive responsibilities of operational officers can be seen in Service Standard 1.3.2 Powers of Officers.

Administration –The responsibility of the daily administration of the Brigade falls to the President of the Brigade. Once again the President need not do this alone. By the requirements of the Constitution there must also be elected a Brigade Secretary and Treasurer, and the Brigade may elect other such positions such as, Vice President or assistant secretary as they see fit. The roles of President, Secretary and Treasurer are fairly well defined in the Constitution. While the roles are well defined by such sections of the Constitution as Section 9 Finance, Section 6 Meetings and Section 6.4 Records, the overall responsibility that this is happening will fall to the President.

Executive Committee – To enable the above administration to occur there is in place the Executive Committee. Simply put the executive committee manages the Brigade other than in relation to operational activities. The executive committee must manage the Brigade in accordance with any directions of general meetings of the Brigade. The committee must comprise President, Treasurer, Secretary and Captain but may include other members as decided when the constitution was adopted. The Executive Committee meets when and as often as deemed necessary. An Executive Committee will usually meet between ordinary Brigade meetings to act on suggestions from the last meeting and to prepare advice and agenda for the next meeting.

Brigade Rules – The Brigade may make Brigade Rules provided that they are consistent with the Constitution, Service Standards and any Standing Operating Procedures. While they cannot form part of the Constitution they may be beneficial in achieving harmony and defining the brigade a little more finely. Remember all proposed brigade rules must be approved by the DTZ Manager.

The Captain has a couple of rights within the Constitution to blend the Operational side with the Administrative side in the fact that he/she can call a general meeting at any time, that the Captain and DTZ Manager call for the AGM and that the Captain is part of the Executive Committee. To see a Captain as supreme ruler of a brigade is surely a path to folly.

Let every field officer, administrative officer and member of the brigade do a little part and the whole will grow and develop into a worthy, friendly and well run organisation.

Simplicity, teamwork and fellowship are the keys.

NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE

WE VALUE

community and environment

support, friendship and camaraderie

knowledge and learning

integrity and trust

one team, many players and one purpose

adaptability and resourcefulness

mutual respect

Procedure for members wishing to drive tankers

LSOG 20.3 Members wishing to obtain Medium Rigid (MR) heavy VEHICLE DRIVER’S licence

Rationale:
The RTA requires drivers of rigid vehicles with 2 axles and a GVM of more than 8 tonnes, to hold a Medium Rigid 'Class MR' licence. Many RFS appliances such as Cat 1 tankers, fall into this category.

The procedures for brigade members wishing to upgrade their licence to a class ‘MR’ are as follows:

Pass a Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) Heavy Vehicle Driving Test, or
Pass a Competency Based Assessment (CBA) with a private provider.

The Commissioner of the RFS has directed that volunteers will not have to pay for heavy vehicle licence assessments. There are however, local procedures established to ensure that the RFS only pays for the assessment where appropriate.

Procedure:
1.
RFS volunteers are exempt from paying the RTA Heavy Vehicle Theory and Practical Test Fees, provided the obtaining of the licence is for the purpose of driving fire appliances.
2.
Members wishing to obtain a Medium Rigid Drivers Licence must have their Captain in writing request a letter of introduction for the RTA. The letter from the brigade must state that the member obtaining a medium rigid licence will be of benefit to the functioning of the Brigade. He/she must have already satisfactorily completed the RTA heavy vehicle driving knowledge test and eyesight test.
3.
RFS vehicles may be used by active members to learn to drive heavy vehicles under the supervision of a suitably qualified member, provided he/she has the express permission of the Brigade Captain.
RFS vehicles may also be used for the heavy vehicle driving test.
4.
The FCO, may at his discretion and at the request of the Brigade Captain, issue a letter of introduction for a member (who must have completed their probation), wishing to obtain a Medium Rigid Drivers Licence.
This letter must be presented to the RTA when booking a Heavy Vehicle Driving Test.
NB No booking fee paid by a member will be reimbursed.
The member must present the RTA receipt for the licence upgrade to the Training Coordinator within 7 days of paying the fee.
5.
Members will need to pay the licence upgrade fee to have her/his licence upgraded.
If the member has completed Advanced Firefighter or higher, or the Brigade Captain and the FCO are of the opinion that the member attaining a heavy vehicle driver’s licence will be of benefit to the function of the Brigade, this fee will be reimbursed.
6.
RFS vehicles may be used with the permission of the Brigade Captain for members to learn to drive heavy vehicles under the supervision of a suitably qualified private provider of Heavy Vehicle CBA.
Any cost incurred through a private provider CBA must be met by the individual.