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.
