Question:
I am asking for assistance with a problem that is stiring within our department. Our department is all volunteer except the Chief, AC & Secretary. We provide Fire Protection & Education, BLS Medical & Education, Boat Rescue and Cliff Rescue services to eleven thousand citizens in an area of sixty five square miles in the lower one third of the island. We provide these services with ninety-two volunteers, six fire stations, six engines, one spare engine, six mobile water supplies (tankers), one Rescue Squad, a SeeDo and a boat. We are now faced with a new state requirement to have a "Safety (Officer/Person/FireFighter) on the scene of a major incident. This person is responsible to "Inform" the Incident Commander of any major safety violations that are present, and "Request" that the situation be resolved. (as any one would expect) In this community, the Chief has assigned (requested) 1 person from each of the six stations to be the "Safety....", the idea is that one of us would be at the scene and on duty. We would like your input to the following questions: 1) How do you IDENTIFY your "Safety Officer" at a scene: 2) What do you call your "Safety Officer": 3) At what point in the I.C.S. do you insert the "Safety Officer" 4) What authority does the "Safety Officer" have OVER/WITH the IC:

Answer: Q: 1) How do you IDENTIFY your "Safety Officer" at a scene: A: Our safety officer's are identified by a car number of 35-39. This car number is recognizable to all members, plus they wear a flourscent vest with "Safety Officer" on it. Each of our 5 stations has a Safety Officer. We are also all volunteer. Q: 2) What do you call your "Safety Officer":

A: We call them Safety or Safety Officer. Q: 3) At what point in the I.C.S. do you insert the "Safety Officer"

A: The Safety Officer has an indirect reporting line to the I.C., however the Safety Officer can stop any unsafe acts or request attack changes due to safety concerns. Q: 4) What authority does the "Safety Officer" have OVER/WITH the IC:

A: The Safety Officer can override any order of the I.C. that they feel is unsafe.