[Peetwo]

On saws & ladders -  

First in pictures:

And via the Senate Hansard:  

Senator GALLACHER: What about ladders? Is it true that under your authority no aviation firefighter is currently allowed to train with ladders over two metres?

Mr G Wood : That's correct.

Senator GALLACHER: I don't want to laugh, but I've got this vision of firefighters going up ladders that are about 30 metres high, not two metres.

Mr G Wood : We take the safety of our people very seriously. There is a risk of fall from a ladder. We've examined that issue and we've determined that, at this time, we will restrict our firefighters from climbing up ladders greater than two metres. So they can still practise the necessary skills while we form a working group to look at an improved way, going forward, and whether that improved way includes harness systems and the like.

Senator GALLACHER: So no aviation firefighters are currently, under your own training policies, working with ladders.

Mr G Wood : No, they can work with ladders; they just can't climb ladders, in that sense, above two metres. We've introduced portable stairs and the like.

CHAIR: Seriously, you need to start that answer again.

Mr G Wood : What's the—

CHAIR: They can work with ladders, they just can't climb up them!

Mr G Wood : No, they can practise their skills up to two metres high. You may laugh but it's a serious thing.

Senator GALLACHER: You believe it's too dangerous to use a ladder in a controlled training environment but it's okay to use it in a fire or to conduct a rescue.

Senator STERLE: How do you change the lights in the—

Mr G Wood : Let's put this into perspective. In our business, for every 100 times we use a ladder we likely use it in training 99 times out of those 100. So this significantly reduces the risk of a fall, from height, from a ladder. We have restrictions in place, for operational use, where ladders can no longer be used as a work platform. They can simply be used as an entry and exit point from a different height.

By Ironsider, via the Oz:  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa...8bbc85c652

Senate Estimates: Ladder ban for firefighters at Australia’s airports



Airservices Australia's Chief Executive Jason Harfield.

ROBYN IRONSIDE
AVIATION WRITER
@ironsider

10:59PM FEBRUARY 18, 2019
26 COMMENTS

Firefighters at Australia’s airports have been banned from climbing ladders more than 2-metres high in training because of the risk of falling.

In a Senate Estimates hearing that had some senators in stitches, Airservices Australia chief fire officer Glenn Wood confirmed the training ban, even though firefighters could be required to use much higher ladders in an aircraft emergency.

“We take the safety of our people very seriously and there is a risk of fall from height,” Mr Wood told the Committee for Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport.

“We’ve examined that issue and we’ve determined that at this time we will restrict our firefighters from climbing up a ladder greater than 2m so they can practice the necessary skills while we form a working group to look at alternatives.”

He went on to add “firefighters can work with ladders, they just can’t climb ladders in that sense of more than 2m”.

Committee chairman Barry O’Sullivan responded “seriously, you need to start that answer again”, to guffaws from the rest of the panel.

“You may laugh Senator but it’s a serious thing,” said Mr Wood.

Senator O’Sullivan then questioned why it was okay to use a ladder of more than 2m in an “emergency” such as when a plane was on fire, in a situation considerably more stressful than in training.

Airservices Australia chief Jason Harfield said they were in the process of exploring safer alternatives such as harnesses for firefighters.

The committee also heard power saws had been removed from firefighters’ kit, because of the safety risk.

Mr Wood said there was a civil aviation requirement to have a power saw but the regulator had been informed of the decision to remove it for the “safety of staff”.

“We’ve looked at that piece of equipment and it’s out of date and not fit for purpose and it presents a significant safety hazard for our people,” he said.

“We’ve got arrangements in place with the local fire service to bring their rescue saw (in the event of an emergency).”

He said the “jaws of life” could do some of the work of a power saw, but not all.

“There is work underway to find an appropriate alternative that is more fit for purpose,” Mr Wood told the committee.

Cont/-

Via the Oz:

Airport firies’ safety concerns

ROBYN IRONSIDE
Removal of chain saws and a ban on climbing ladders during firefighters’ training poses a real-life risk, says their union.

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Safety restrictions could thwart rescues: airport firefighters

Airport firefighters and their union say new safety and training restrictions could impede a ­tarmac rescue in the event of a plane crash in Australia.

They say they are ashamed of the measures, which have meant the removal of rescue saws and a ban on climbing ladders of more than 2m in training.

Airservices Australia chief fire officer Glenn Wood revealed the measures at a Senate estimates committee hearing, to the bemusement of members of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport.

Mr Wood said efforts were under way to find a suitable replacem­ent for the “outdated” Husqvarna rescue saws used to cut through aircrafts’ fuselage in an entrapment emergency.

The saws are a requirement for airport fire stations under the Civil Aviation Act, but Mr Wood said they had notified the Civil Avia­tion Safety Authority of their remova­l.

On the subject of ladders, he said airport fire stations were equipped with 9m ladders but were not allowed to climb them to a height of more than 2m in training, although they could be used to their full height in an emergency.

The measures were imposed without consulting the United Firefighters Union’s aviation branch, and secretary Mark von Nida said members were embarrassed by the restrictions.

He said holding up a rescue saw for 20 seconds and ascending a 9m ladder were part of the tasks firefighters had to complete to qualify for the job.

“It is embarrassing,” Mr von Nida said. “We’ve got 9m ladders that go to the top deck of an A380 or a 747 and we’ve trained on them for the last 40 years and no one’s ever fallen.”

The lack of a rescue saw capable­ of cutting through the fuse­lage of a modern aircraft was of considerable concern, he said.

“We only replaced (the saws) less than a year and a half ago, to go from a 14-inch saw to a 16-inch model because of the new composit­e materials used to build aircraft,” Mr von Nida said.

“Aircraft are really strongly made and if you don’t have a decen­t saw that goes all the way through it could take an hour and a half to cut through.”

He said it would be disastrous for the country and the tourism indust­ry if a plane went down and the firefighters did not have the tools or training to help.

“The way we’re heading, we’ll have to wait 15 minutes for a state or territory-run station to arrive,” Mr von Nida said.

Another firefighter, who did not want to be named, said he was ashamed to be part of the Air­services Australia fire service. “It’s not a service,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Airservic­es Australia could not provide any examples of falls or accidents involvin­g ladders or rescue saw at airport fire stations.

“The current interim arrangements limit the risk to our people without impacting the integrity of our training,” she said.

A working group had been creat­ed to provide recommend­ations on alternatives to the rescue saws and ladder training, and would provide recommendations by May at the latest, she added.

MTF...P2