EMERGENCY services must improve how they deal with workers taking unplanned leave, an Auditor-General’s report has revealed.
The report, tabled in State Parliament last week, found Metropolitan Fire Brigade, ambulance and police employees were more likely to suffer injuries and emotional stress, with higher rates of unplanned leave than other public sector staff.
The report said time lost by firefighters due to unplanned leave had steadily increased since 2000.
About 12 MFB shifts were lost to unplanned leave in 2011-12, the highest among emergency services.
Acting auditor-general Dr Peter Frost said the MFB had the poorest unplanned leave performance and needed to improve considerably.
“Management has been aware of the causes of personal unplanned leave since 2000, but it has not adequately addressed them,” he found.
“There is a lack of frontline management accountability for unplanned leave and a lack of regular data on firefighters’ unplanned leave available to managers.”
Brimbank leading district firefighter Steve Warnock said the report did not accurately reflect the pressures faced by firefighters.
He said firefighters were more frequently asked to attend incidents where people were affected by drugs, suicides, murder scenes and traumatic car accidents where they had to cut the victims from their vehicles while relatives and friends looked on.
“It’s extremely traumatic for the firefighters, especially when they are first on the scene to an incident like that,” he said.
Despite years passing, the memory of some callouts remain vivid, particularly the death of children.
“Infant deaths are particularly devastating,” Mr Warnock said.
“I attended one where a baby had passed away. The mother was wrapping the baby in a blanket to try to keep him warm. You can’t forget those moments, especially when you have children of your own.”
He said the report appeared to be a tactic to lower the standing of firefighters in the community as EBA negotiations begin.
United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said the report was “flawed and politically motivated in timing”.
MFB acting CEO Russell Eddington said the authority welcomed and accepted all recommendations in the report. “It provides clear evidence that MFB can perform better in managing unplanned leave,” he said. “It is in the interests of all concerned – firefighters and community – that MFB is able to properly allocate and utilise resources to optimise capability and capacity in emergency management.”
