Fire Chief

Would Increased Democracy Equal Increased Safety?

Randall Halifen July 21st, 2010

I attended an incident safety-officer course in my area and enjoyed the education and refresher on what the incident safety officer could bring to the scene. But soon I realized that much of the safety aspect relied on this one person, maybe two or three at a large incident. A few slides mentioned that everyone is accountable for their own safety, but nowhere did I see the concept of crew resource management or crew-member empowerment that the IAFC advocates. Crew resource management is a concept that originated in the airline industry, which aimed to reduce near-miss and catastrophic accidents.

Less than a week after I attended the course, I came across the article, “Incident Command as a Participative-Management Practice: Dispelling the Myth of Authoritarian Command.” In it, B.E. William described the incident command system as more of a democratic process than the traditional autocratic process we have described for many years. He noted that information flow and empowerment of the operating personnel were more important than the one-sided view of the incident commander.

The IAFC’s annual safety standdowns focus on taking personal responsibility for health, suggesting that each individual is responsible for his or her own safety. This personal responsibility is finally recognized as the culture we must promote to solve a large portion of the firefighter deaths each year.

One of the 16 life-safety initiatives is empowerment of personnel to stop unsafe acts. This implies that even the newest firefighters can question and stop an unsafe act. Many firefighter fatalities occur in the presence of other firefighters who witnessed unsafe acts that compounded to the point of a critical failure. I often wonder if more empowerment and a culture that accepts this empowerment would have prevented these events.

Lastly, the new generation of personnel entering the fire service, known as Millennials, has a trait that they are known for — the desire to question everything. I have attended a few conferences that have focused on the Millennials entering the work force, specifically, entering the paramilitary fire service. Overwhelmingly, speakers and fire service personnel discuss how much of a clash this mentality will create in the paramilitary organization of the fire service, where their opinion is not always correct or desired. Many are unsure with how this questioning mentality will work during fire suppression activities.

But is this questioning attitude — coupled with the increased realization of the benefits of empowerment for stopping unsafe acts —exactly what we need to reduce line-of-duty deaths? Or would encouraging a generation that already questions everything only result in command chaos? How do we properly empower individual firefighters while maintaining operational command? Are we at the turning point for firefighter empowerment, and how do we train our experienced personnel to adapt to this change?

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Related Topics: Guest, Health & Safety, Leadership

5 Comments to “Would Increased Democracy Equal Increased Safety?”

1. Jim Spell Says:
   

   July 22nd, 2010 at 7:37 am

   Sir:
   In December of 09 I wrote an article for Fire Chief Magazine that deals with this issue. My contention is, yes, there is a new firefighter out there and he or she must be managed in a different way. The first step is to recognize that followership is as important as leadership and to give this new generation the tools to be successful. Understanding the difference between presenting ideas and making decisions is one.
   Being respectful and patient is another. Although the article deals with guidelines for good followership…we as decision-makers must acknowledge both the need and necessity for such a change. Thanks for doing so…
   Would enjoy discussing it further.
   Jim

2. Randall Hanifen Says:
   

   July 23rd, 2010 at 9:18 am

   Jim,

   I would agree we are at a point that we must recognize and try to blend the differences in the generations that will work together. I agree with your statement that we must recognize followership, as the the organization is only as strong as the weakest link. I think I’m concerned with how to change the mindset of the 75% of the personnel that are not millennials to understand the importance of the democracy. According to many study’s we are in a prime time for recruiting, as the other trait of the millennials is their desire to volunteer and work in industries which better the community, regardless of salary. We must be receptive and capture the talent of the next generation. I would enjoy talking more on this either on-line or off at randall.hanifen@uc.edu

3. Jim Spell Says:
   

   July 30th, 2010 at 12:28 pm

   Randall,
   I agree and in the spirit of “the blog” let’s open this up. I received little feedback on my article, but during my research two things became apparent. The new firefighter (after probation..ha ha) feels more empowered than their predecessor and has no problem asking questions and giving opinions. This stems from the incredible educational and training foundation they receive and a culture that emphasizes the “ME” in just about everything. Just look at today’s IFSTA manuals and then turn on “FACEBOOK”… Secondly, I agree there is a multitude of senior staff that are intolerant of such behavior maintaining that it is inappropriate anytime but most assuredly on the fireground. Although I grew up in this environment (33 years on the line), I can honestly say from personal command experience I have benefited from “empowered, problem solving” firefighters and have worked hard to create an effective environment for making such input appropriate and effective while keeping the fireground safe. It is my belief that is what the Incident Command System makes provisions for if utilized effectively. The key is to educate both the “dinosaurs” and the “deer”…and frankly this will require some significant cultural changes. The next step is to clearly define them and find an effective avenue for implementing this new leadership/followership philosophy.
   I have outlined the initial “rules for followership” but agree this concept will not progress until we as senior officers adopt an effective leadership philosophy that incorporates the “new firefighter”…. got a list???
   Jim

4. Randall Hanifen Says:
   

   August 9th, 2010 at 9:10 pm

   Jim,

   My apologies for the delay. I have a brief list, but feel it will take a lot of effort on everyone’s behalf.

   For the Senior management:
   1. Look externally. Look at what fortune 500 companies are doing about millennial integration. Although some private industry practices will not work in the fire department, many will and those who must work out HR issues to make money, likely have some good ideas, otherwise they would be out of business.

   2. Conduct familiarization training for the department. Often we are unaware of issues that are around us until someone points them out. Show the benefits of the millennial, especially how it relates to completing your job. Each person wants to know what they get out of putting in the effort for integration.

   For the Millennial:
   1. Be inquisitive while you train every hour you are at the firehouse. No one minds questions while someone is learning and senior members love to show what they know. Many of the senior members i hear talk about the newest generation, proclaim they don’t have a training attitude.

   2. Understand that education and training are important, but the experience factor can not be ignored. There are many things that books do not teach to the fullest extent and the experience gained by the senior members should supplement your enhanced education, not be ignored.

   I feel with these basic rules, both groups can meet in the middle to allow the progression of the fire service.

   Randy

5. Dominick Swinhart Says:
   

   August 16th, 2010 at 10:27 am

   I hope you guys don’t mind if I interject an opposing argument. As a Generation X fire chief, I certainly see some of the issues in Millennials that you point out. Over half of my department are Millenials. I’ve certainly had to spend a lot of time trying to bridge the gap between our Boomer officers and our Millennial newbies. One of the things I preach the most is that the “Do it because I said so,” response isn’t going to work with this new generation of firefighters. If you can’t deal with that, it’s seriously time to consider moving on. I encourage an inclusiveness attitude at the department, and personnel are certainly encouraged to voice varying opinions.

   Where I disagree, albeit slightly, is that this all inclusiveness can or should be extended to the fire ground. Personnel are certainly aware they can ask questions at a fire scene, and I’m always open to innovative ways to get the job done. But when the rubber meets the road and time is of the essence, you reach a point where the “do it because I said so” response may be necessary. I also don’t want situations where fire ground inclusiveness leads to 4 firefighters arguing 4 different ways with their battalion chief about the best way to open a wall or vent a roof. Here’s one exchange that didn’t happen to me but was related by a colleague:

   Chief: Get in there with a hand line and put that out.
   FF: Gee, Chief, that looks kind of hot. You sure it’s safe?
   Chief: Of course it’s hot, it’s a fire, now get in there and knock it down.
   FF: I don’t know, it looks dangerous, are you sure it’s not going to collapse?
   Chief: The homeowner saw it start 5 minutes ago, it’s still confined to the room of origin, you’ll be fine if you get in there and knock it down and stop asking so many questions.

   You see what I’m getting at? Now, I can’t imagine one of my own personnel trying to have such an exchange with me, but if they did, it would be the last time. But if I let them know that the kind of open discussions we allow at the fire station also extends to the fire scene, how can I crack down on someone that takes it too far and doesn’t know when it’s time to get the job done?

   I’m not in disagreement with the general premise, but I think we need to be very cautious because it could be a huge can of worms that we’ll never get the lid back on.

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