As bushfire management cuts across diverse work types, OH&S issues are varied, and it is hard for bushfire-specific Work Health and Safety Representatives (WHSRs), such as fire mitigation/management crews, to share information on relevant issues, common hazards, and to remediate issues at the ground level in line with industry standards.

With the advent of near-borderless bushfire response (Interagency Interoperability), and services sharing the same equipment, tactics and standards, bushfire WHSRs in particular should be able to share Health and Safety information nationally, at a level that is relevant to the operators on the ground where there is the willingness and the competency to draw conclusions from our own safety information system².

Local WHSR meetings may include representatives from work groups that don't share the same hazards or acceptable risk levels, and whilst processes for consulting and remediation are largely the same, bushfire WHSRs need a forum to share information on hazards and issues with work groups that face the same environment, equipment and culture. Additionally, they need a forum that is not limited geographically, politically or by budgetary constraints. In essence, bushfire WHSRs need a platform to be able to share evidence obtained through multi-method research to further bushfire Workplace Health & Safety strategies¹.

This can be simply achieved by utilizing social networking sites such as LinkedIn - establishing an easily accessible portal that allows WHSRs to post and share reviews, findings, safety bulletins, After Action Reviews and Rapid Lesson Sharing³ relevant to bushfire mitigation and management works. We can vastly improve fire line safety by sharing each others' experiences and knowledge. Get your WHS representative to Join Linkedin then click on groups and join “Bushfire health and safety Representatives.”

Bushfire Health & Safety Representatives