Shift Training/Safety Officers

[Rsmith83]

Any Training/Safety Officers that work 24/48 out there? We have been doing it for 6 months. Interested in how others operate.

[truckmonkey42]

We have both 24 hour Field Training Officers and 24 hour Safety Chiefs. Heck I think we now have 24 hour Field Medical Officers (We only run EMS first response though)
Our FTOS respond on all box alarms and are there to record the incident using video and still photography and review tactics. They have no incident responsibilities. THey also participate in the post incident reviews and assist in the lessons learned portion that is posted on our intranet. Each shift FTO has a certain specialty like medical CE.
Safety Chiefs respond on all box alarms and are there for what else, safety. They also do IOJ stuff and a bunch of other things. They also have certain projects.
Our FMO's do rideouts and medical training stuff. It is fairly new and they are still working things out.
I think all 3 functions are important and they have been paying dividends in good lessons learned and other good stuff.

[Rsmith83]

are your FTOs assigned to the training division? do they conduct drills and lessons aswell? We have 3 training Captains, one for each shift, and a B.C. on days. Each Captain trains their shift and provides safety at larger incidents. My department has 7 stations and 150 personnel.

[truckmonkey42]

Here is most of a bulletin detailing the 3 shifts FTO's jobs. We are at 44 stations with 1,050 FF's

The development and dissemination of Fire and Medical Continuing Education;
The development of consistent, sustainable training systems;
Quality assurance and effectiveness of training programs;
Quality assurance and effectiveness of training delivery;
Consistency of training effort;
Delivery of consistent professional development for all ranks;
Quality assurance of the Cadet Academy programs;
Quality assurance of the Probationary Firefighter Program; and
Supporting the Operations Captains in the delivery of Captains’ schools.
In addition, the FTOs will have a safety function on the incident scene.
Each of the FTOs will be assigned an Operations shift as their area of responsibility and work an Operations shift schedule. This schedule allows for:
The FTO to assume a safety function on the incident scene either as an Accountability officer or Back-up Safety Officer;
A first-hand view of SOG adherence and effectiveness;
A first-hand view of tactical training effectiveness;
The gathering of information for the post-incident review;
The generation of training initiatives based on observed fire ground needs;
The identification of best practices; and
Operations Training during non-peak hours

[EGH128]

2 Stations
17 Full Time Employees (5 per shift working 3 shifts)
Chief
Deputy Chief
3 Battalion Chiefs

1 of the Battalion Chiefs is the Training Officer. We have several instructors that all teach classes. I am taking Instructional Methodology this Fall semester. As of right now, I am responsible for teaching updates to EMS protocols and bloodborne pathogens. The Training Officer delegates classes so it's not all on him. Works good for us. We are a small department, but hopefully the information is helpful.

[dday05]

.
Safety Chiefs respond on all box alarms and are there for what else, safety. .

Just throwing this out here, could the safety officer out rank the chief?

[EGH128]

Just throwing this out here, could the safety officer out rank the chief?

Here, the Safety Officer does not "out rank" the Chief, but has the authority to stop any operation for safety purposes.

[callaway75]

We use a DC as Training/Safety officer. He works Mon-Fri 7:30 to around 4 or 5 pm. He is on call when off duty, and only responds to working fires, or large scale incidents. When he's away, one of the other DC's or Assistant chiefs will then be Safety Officer.

[Rsmith83]

Just throwing this out here, could the safety officer out rank the chief?

Here, as well and I believe with most IC systems. The Safety Officer can override the Incident Commander when safety is a factor. We work with the IC, help with the Incident Action Plan and be another set of eyes. All are accepting of our presence.

since we went to "Shift" training/safety. The guys on line are much more accepting of us. we are now part of the shift, as opposed to working days and being "out of the loop" with the shift guys. It's a great concept.

[JTLow3]

What's the level of training for your safety chief(s)? Do they have additional training above and beyond a regular battalion chief?