SAFENET FIELD CARD
In an effort to meet the needs of the wildland fire community, the Risk Management Committee (RMC) has created the SAFENET FIELD CARD to be used by firefighters. The SAFENET FIELD CARD is designed to be used by personnel assigned to wildland fire incidents with Incident Management Teams (IMTs), local unit employees and personnel on detail assignments without access to computers.
The Field Card is to be used by firefighters for prompt reporting and timely resolution of safety and health concerns encountered on wildland fire assignments, all hazard operations, or other related work environments. This process augments but does not replace the existing SAFENET system.
Often small failures or "weak signals" can lead to larger problems that can be addressed at the lowest level of the organization. Leadership should defer to the expertise of personnel at the lowest operational level, which allows firefighters to create a remedy to minimize the risk or remove personnel from unsafe situations.
A completed SAFENET FIELD CARD can be submitted to an IMT Safety Officer, Incident Commander, or other designated person on a wildland fire assignment. At the local unit level, a first level supervisor, a designated Safety and Health representative, Fire Management Officer, or Agency Administrator could review the Field Card and provide the Agency Response.
Recipients of the Field Cards are encouraged to address situations immediately if "Reporting Individuals" actions do not correct or mitigate the unsafe action or event. "Agency Response" taken by leadership personnel also need to be documented to limit repeat events or establish protocol to limit the exposure of employees on future incidents. All Agency Responses need to be shared with the affected individual(s) and personnel assigned to the task or project.
If the situation cannot be resolved at the local unit level with the FIELD CARD, the reporting individual is encouraged to follow the formal SAFENET process, and complete an electronic version to be addressed at the national level.
Personnel who submit a Field Card are encouraged, but not required, to put their name on the card. The Field Card can be completed anonymously, and there is no punishment or penalty for submitting a SAFENET FIELD CARD. Remember, the goal of the SAFENET FIELD CARD is accident prevention.
Local units and IMTs are encouraged to make available blank SAFENET FIELD CARDS in high use areas such as warehouses, break rooms, food and shower units, and in briefing areas. "Safety Suggestion" boxes or other methods to collect the cards need to be created and checked on a daily basis to address the concerns from the field. Leadership should address the Field Cards daily during daily briefings, or sooner as the situation dictates.
During this fire season's trial period, the SAFENET FIELD CARD will not be available through the SAFENET system and is to be used in the field environment. The SAFENET FIELD CARD should be printed on both sides of a single page to allow for mailing, or the address can be handwritten when the Field Card is folded in half. The mailing address is listed at the bottom of the Card. The SAFENET Field Card is located on the SAFENET website at, http://safenet.nifc.gov/.
The information provided on the SAFENET FIELD CARD will be collected to provide important, safety-related data to assist the RMC in long-term trends and problem-area analysis.
After the situation that warranted submission of the SAFENET FIELD CARD has been resolved at the local level, Supervisors, Safety Officers, and leadership personnel are encouraged to submit completed cards after the situation has been resolved at the local level, by one of the following means:
Mail:
SAFENET
P.O. Box 16645
Boise, ID 83715-9750
Attn: Safety
Fax:
(208) 387-5923
Scan and Email:
SAFENET_Administrator@blm.gov
The RMC encourages comments and suggestions for improvement of the new SAFENET FIELD CARD reporting program. Please submit your ideas to: SAFENET_Administrator@blm.gov.
Michelle G. Ryerson
Chairman, Risk Management Committee
