‘There is some hope’ — Volunteer firies concerned over new laws promised they will not be “adversely affected”

Volunteer firefighters concerned that new workplace safety laws meant they could be imprisoned if something went wrong on a fire ground have been promised they will not be “adversely affected” by the changes. But the peak body for WA’s 20,000 bushfire volunteers is calling for clarity to allay the fears of local brigades worried by the legislation. Concern has mounted in recent weeks over major changes to the Work Health and Safety Act — to come into effect in January — and what it may mean for the State’s farmers, local government chief executives and fire control officers. Local government bushfire volunteers will be classed as workers under the Act — which will introduce industrial manslaughter as a criminal offence — sparking fears of massive fines or imprisonment if someone is injured or killed on the fire ground. Worksafe WA commissioner Darren Kavanagh met with leading agricultural groups and government agencies last Friday to discuss the legislation’s implications for volunteer bush fire brigades and farmers’ response to bushfires. WAFarmers, Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, the Association of Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades and Country Women’s Association all attended the meeting. “There was a lot of valuable interaction between the agencies and a resulting improved understanding of the requirements of the WHS legislation,” Mr Kavanagh said. However, the implications are unclear for many farmers, who are often first on the scene at a fire. Boyup Brook farmers and fire control officers Ron Bingham and Bradley Fairbrass — who have been volunteer firefighters for 47 years and more than 20 years respectively — said volunteers needed protection, otherwise there would be none left. “If there’s (no protection), then they’re all just going to walk away and say, ‘I’ll just protect my place and my neighbour’s place,’ and we’ll be pretty thin on the ground,” Mr Bingham said. Bushfire Volunteers executive officer Darren Brown said the association’s biggest criticism was the lack of information from the State Government on how the Act applied to volunteers. “It’s clearly designed to address mining and other industries and we’re just an unintentional consequence,” he said. “There is some hope ... the commissioner said he had an open door and would work with us to develop material for people to reassure them that we’re not going to have 1000 volunteers sitting in a jail somewhere.” He said it was “encouraging” to hear Mr Kavanagh agree that a single standard of training or otherwise could not be applied to every volunteer brigade across the State. “WA is geographically enormous,” Mr Brown said. “You can’t come up with a default checklist for each brigade to tick ... it has to be what is reasonable in your situation.” The WA Government has insisted the new laws — which bring WA into line with most other States and Territories — have not affected volunteer numbers in those places. Boyup Brook farmer and fire control officer David Fortune begged to differ. “If you look over east, they’ve hardly got a volunteer left,” he said. The Shire of Boyup Brook’s volunteer bushfire brigade has about 300 members — most of which are farmers — and about 80 of which are active. Shire chief executive Dale Putland said he was still seeking more clarification on the “backwards” laws. “Local government CEOs don’t appoint the fire officers, have no control over the fire ground under the legislation in the Bushfire Act, can’t manage or influence what’s going on on the fireground — yet they’re going to be held responsible for what happens,” he said. “Every day you go to work you face 20 years imprisonment if someone in your workplace has an accident ... even if it’s no fault of yours.” There are questions over the standards of farm vehicles used to fight fires, raising concerns the State Government would inspect volunteer vehicles and deem them “not up to scratch”. Despite farmers spending more than $5000 on slip-on firefighting units to sit on their ute trays, Mr Fortune said they had been turned away from helping fight fires in neighbouring shires due to them not meeting DFES’ standards. “So you could have 80 guys sitting around Boyup Brook not allowed to attend the fires ... but that is how government liability and legislation is,” he said. However, Mr Putland said they could not get any funding from the State Government to upgrade vehicles. “(They) won’t even fund slip-ons for these guys — they provide their own equipment, they pay for everything and yet all of a sudden we’ve got these draconian laws coming in, and they won’t give us fire blankets for fire vehicles,” he said. Mr Brown called on DFES to change its view on the units and said they would continue to lobby for the change. “DFES has ruled them out and not supported them through the Emergency Services Levy,” he said. “But other departments use them — Department of Parks and Wildlife has no problem with them. “They are very functional pieces of equipment that lots of farmers and communities use. “There’s nothing wrong with them, it’s just the top-down view from DFES is that they’re not going to fund them.” DFES acting deputy commissioner Brad Delavale said the State Government was “committed to working with local government and volunteer associations to ensure WA was well prepared in offering training, operating procedures and safety packages”. “We believe we are in a good position to continue working with those representatives to protect our personnel and the community under the Act,” he said. Following Friday’s forum, WAFarmers chief executive Trevor Whittington said he was satisfied the new laws would not “unduly impact” farmers. “While there may be concerns out there with our members on attending fires, on the whole we are satisfied that the new laws will not unduly impact farmers and their staff who attend fires, so long as they continue to act with a duty of care and common sense to their own and others’ safety, something they have always done,” he said. WA Industrial Relations Minister Stephen Dawson said the responsibility of farmers — as employers — under the the 1984 OSH Act was “not changing” and an education campaign including webinars would soon be launched. Under the Act — now and when the amendment comes in — employees must be provided with suitable training or support when considering the use of potentially dangerous equipment, and the equipment be made as safe as is reasonably practical. “It is not acceptable under the current Act to direct workers to carry out dangerous work without appropriate training or PPE,” Mr Dawson said. “Our community has high expectations that every worker will come home safely after a day at work, wherever that is.” Mr Brown urged volunteer firies across the State to “calm down,”because they were “probably doing enough already,” but the State Government needed to make it clear. To find out more, visit worksafe.wa.gov.au or phone WorkSafe on 1300 307 877.