The NZPFU has been holding membership meetings around the country to inform members of the attacks on your safe systems of work through the FENZ “proposals for our organisational structure and approach to rank” which was released last Wednesday. The proposal will enable FENZ to appoint non-qualified, inexperienced and untrained civilians into positions currently known as Assistant Area Managers and Area Managers/Commanders and are proposed to be named Group Managers and District Managers. Your health and safety and the response to the community is under attack when a proposal enables FENZ to have non-qualified, untrained and inexperienced personnel manage career firefighters and stations, and are able to take command at an incident.
FENZ intends to make these appointments and afterwards develop a competency assessment framework! Your safe systems of work and command and control is dependent on the current competency assessment framework – your ranks and the qualifications and experience needed to hold each rank!
It is very important that each and every member provides a written response on issues that concern you to the NZPFU.
We will then send all submissions, along with a comprehensive NZPFU response to FENZ.
To help Members do this we have set up an online submission process on this website.
You have the following options:
- Click on NZPFU Email Submission and scroll down to the wellington@nzpfu.org.nz link and send your comments in an email to us. You may want to write one submission but have your crew all agree to submit it on their behalf. You must include the names, ranks, qualifications and contacts of all those wanting to be covered by that submission. Please attach any documentation relevant to the comments you are making as supporting evidence.
- Click on NZPFU Online Submission and choose the online form most relevant to you. You can also fill in other online forms for other comments you may want to make relevant to the other classifications (for example a firefighter may also want to make comment as a national or regional trainer). There are required sections (name, contact details, rank, qualifications etc), a place for you to write any comments and then some sections where the FENZ proposals are explained and you can provide examples or information on what those proposals will mean for you in your job, the response to the community and your safe systems of work. Please attach any documentation relevant to the comments you are making as supporting evidence. The options under NZPFU Online submission are:
– Firefighter
– Officer or Seconded AAM
– National or Regional Trainer
– Comcen Dispatcher or Shift Manager
– Fire Risk Manager Officer
– Volunteer Support Officer
Each and every member is requested to make a submission.
- It can be a few comments on one particular issue or may be a comprehensive submission covering a number of key issues or proposals.
- It might be your experiences in the past where the professional career safe systems of work including rank, qualifications and experience made the difference on the incident ground.
- It might be your experiences in the past where the professional career safe systems of work including rank, qualifications and experience were not in command on the incidence ground and impacted on the outcome.
It is important that where you have evidence (Incident reports) or independent information to support your comments that you attach those documents to your submission. You can do that at the end of the online submission, or if you submit by email.
Please make sure each and every member makes a submission – help out your crew, colleagues and workmates!
Your views are valuable – we need them!
If you have any queries please contact your Local, Branch or National representatives.
In unity,
Wattie Watson
National Secretary
