Safety Alert Protocols
Revised - 7/14/10

    1. There are three levels of Safety Alerts:
      • Safety Warning - A warning of a safety hazard that poses an imminent threat to life or property.
      • Safety Advisory - An advisory on safety information that isn't related to imminent or potential threats of injury.
      • Safety Bulletin - A factual confirmation of a significant event or serious accident, incident or fatality.
    2. Fuels and fire behavior advisories issued by Predictive Services or Coordination Center staff or other entities should follow the protocols identified in the July 12, 2006, memo titled, “Fuel and Fire Behavior Advisory Issuance and Dissemination”. This memo is attached.

    Protocols for Fire Behavior Advisory Messages.pdfFuels fire behavior advisory template.pdf
    3. For Safety Advisories and Safety Warnings, the recommending/initiating Risk Management Committee (RMC) member will send an email to the other RMC members to review. The other RMC members (who are available) will review and provide comments/concurrence/non-concurrence within 48 hours. If a majority of the available members concur, a Safety Advisory or Safety Warning will be prepared.
    Items the RMC will consider when issuing Safety Advisories and Warnings:
      • Is subject national in scope?
      • Is the Advisory/Warning technically accurate?
      • Have mitigation measures been identified?
      • Has a subject line been included and is it accurate?
    4. For Safety Bulletins addressing serious accidents and/or fatalities, only the 24-Hour Reports will be distributed via the Safety Alert system. These bulletins shall also include reference to the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center database where the 24-Hour Report, 72-Hour Report and final Factual Report will be posted, once they are obtained. Typically, a Safety Bulletin will read as follows:
    “Attached is the 24-Hour Report for the __________ incident/investigation. Please see that it receives wide distribution within your agency. When available, other investigation documents, specifically the 72 Hour Report and the final Factual Report, will be posted on the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center database for incident reports and lessons learned analyses (http://iirdb.wildfirelessons.net/main/Reviews.aspx)

    5. For incidents (e.g. non-serious accidents), Safety Bulletins will be prepared only when the accident, and any lessons learned, would be relevant to a significant segment of the wildland fire community. The recommending/initiating RMC member will send an email to the other RMC members to review. The other RMC members (who are available) will review and provide comments/concurrence/non-concurrence within 24 hours. If a majority of the available members concur, a Safety Bulletin will be issued per the instructions identified in number three above.
    6. Safety Alerts will be emailed to Marie Bates (Marie_Bates@nifc.blm.gov) as a Word Document. Marie should also be contacted by office phone at 208-387-5506, to advise that a Safety Alert has been submitted. If Marie cannot be contacted, her alternate is Deana Parrish (Deana_Parrish@nifc.blm.gov), and office phone 208-387-5149. In the rare event that neither are available, contact Casey O’Connell (Casey_O’Connell@nifc.blm.gov) and office phone 208-387-5994. One of them will post the Safety Alert on the Safety Alert website and initiate distribution via the email lists provided by RMC members.
    7. The RMC members will review and update their respective agency/region mailing lists with Marie Bates. This should be completed on an annual basis by the end of March.
    8. If there are IT issues with either the Safety Alert or SAFENET websites, contact Casey O’Connell and she will follow-up with the Help Desk.