Fire Fighter Safety Blog: A Welcome Message from Safety Chief Jeff Bancroft
Dec 1, 2009 at 12:00 AM 708 Comments | Add a Comment
Welcome to the first Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) Fire Fighter Safety Blog. My name is Jeff Bancroft, and I am the Safety Chief for PF&R. I am responsible for helping to fostering a safe and accident-free bureau and for keeping PF&R compliant with all appropriate workplace and fire/safety regulations.
The Fire Fighter Safety Blog will be my soapbox I can stand on to talk about how PF&R keeps fire fighters safe, the latest issues and projects I am dealing with, and the activities of the Safety Committee, the Metro Safety Officers Committee, Risk Management, Training, and all of the other organizations I work with day-in and day-out.
I have just returned after a week in sunny LA (go ahead and be jealous, all I did was work. Honest!). The bi-annual IAFF-sponsored Redmond Symposium is the largest Fire Fighter safety health and wellness convention in the world. About 1,000 fire fighters from all across the US and Canada converge every other year to discuss fire fighter safety issues, learn about new advances in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for fire fighters and protocols, and network with members of other fire departments.
It was without a doubt the most valuable, and inspirational conference I have ever attended. The passion for fire fighter safety is a real mission....sounds corny, but it is a higher calling. The passion for fire fighter safety is also highly contagious. I have taken pages and pages of notes over the past week. I have heard many new ideas that I will incorporate into the fire fighter training I am responsible for. I have numerous inspirations for future Safety Bulletins, and a lot of material to write about. Some of it is controversial, and some of it is common sense.
I intend to use my blog as a method of airing ideas, sticking my toe in the water on issues that interest me, and sometimes propose changes I would like to see. I wish this to be an interactive process. For the internal PF&R employees, you all know how to get hold of me. For everyone else, feel free to email me with questions or suggestions at any time. I’m at jbancroft@fire.ci.portland.or.us.
So look for my blog that will be posted every two weeks – I welcome your feedback and I promise to always listen.
Until next time – BE SAFE!