Fire Officer Flashcards
What is a Fire officer?
An individual who supervises a single suppression unit or small admin group
What are the four management principles?
Unity of command
Span of control
Division of labour
Discipline
What are the functions of management?
Planning
Organizing
Leading
Controlling
Functions of management explained
Planning: Developing a scheme, program or method that is worked out beforehand to accomplish an objective
Organizing: Putting resources together into an orderly functional, structured whole
Leading: Guiding or directing in a course of action
Controlling: Restraining, regulating, governing, counteracting or overpowering
Establishing a strong supervisor/employee relationship
Open honest and constant communication between officer and firefighter
Schedule regular one on one meetings with each member
Schedule regular meetings with whole company
Work together to resolve disagreements
Start by listing areas you can succeed together, starting with easily obtainable goals
What are Positive labour-management relations?
Each side must be willing and able to focus on the mutual benefits of a positive relationship or face the consequences of a negative outcome.
What is the root cause of almost every labour disturbance?
Failure to manage the relationship between labour and management properly
What is mediation?
Intervention of neutral third party in industrial dispute
What is a supervisor function?
To function as the official representative of the chief
How can an officer improve their effectiveness in handling an unpopular order?
Determine the story or history behind the directive, which enables it to be put in perspective
What is a commander function?
To exercise strong direct supervision over the company members.
In some cases, the officer could be responsible for directing the actions of additional resources or function as the initial IC
What is command presence?
The ability to project an image of being in control of a situation
What is the officer’s responsibility as a trainer?
Making sure the ff’s under their command are confident and competent in their skills.
What are the activities necessary to ensure a good working relationship between officer and their supervisor?
Keep supervisor informed
Make appropriate decisions at your level of responsibility
Consult with your supervisor before taking major disciplinary actions or making policy changes
What are values that help make ethical choices?
Having a code of ethics that is well known throughout the organization
Selecting employees that share the values of the organization
Ensuring top management exhibits ethical behaviour
Having clear job goals
Having performance appraisals that reward ethical behaviour
Implementing an ethics training program
What is diversity?
Characteristic of a workforce that reflects the differences in terms of: Age Culture Race Religion Sex Sexual orientation
What are actionable items?
An employee behaviour that requires immediate correction by a supervisor.
Guidelines for handling a workplace complaint
Keep an open mind
Treat the complainant with respect and compassion
Do not blame the person filing the complaint
Do not retaliate against the complainant
Follow established procedures
Interview all involved
Look for corroboration and contradiction
Keep it confidential
Write it all down
Cooperate with government agencies
When is the National Incident Management System (NIMS) used?
Managing any incident
There are more than 4 mutual aid fire companies
Incident receives a disaster declaration
What authorizes fire departments to provide services?
Evaluation from the IAFC
Registration through the centre for Public Safety Services
Local or regional government entity
What is Span of Control?
The number of personnel or activities that can be effectively controlled by one individual (usually 3-7, often no more than five)
What is Division of labour?
Way of organizing an incident by breaking down the overall strategy into smaller tasks
What is Unity of Command?
Concept that each firefighter answers only to one supervisor, one supervisor to one boss and so on. Chain of command.
What is Discipline?
Guiding and directing firefighters to do what their department expects of them
