Following recent near miss events involving Type 3 appliances, all crews are reminded to thoroughly acceptance test all appliances when changing appliances at the service provider.
Acceptance testing should include
- Daily drivers’ checks
- Pressurising and flowing water from the pump
- Pressurising and flowing water from the high pressure hose-reels.
- Primer operation and the ability to hold a prime.
- Relief valve operation
- Ensuring there are no outstanding faults in the defect book.
Any appliance with faults should not be accepted.
All faults that have the potential to cause harm should be entered into safe@work.
If there are no Type 3 relief appliances available you should make contact with NZPFU Reps Adam Wright – 021 422 702 or Terry Bird – 022 628 0828, who will assist with a contingency plan.
We refer members to our previous notice on 28 June this year and request you also follow our advice in that notice in conjunction with the above.
Auckland Emergency Response Fleet Status
The Local continues to receive reports from members about the state of the emergency response fleet (Red Fleet) throughout Auckland, including trucks not being able to respond to emergency incidents due to faults and break downs.
As members know, back in December 2019, half of Auckland’s front line response trucks were taken out of commission due to the discovery of cracks in the locker body that was affecting safety and preventing the trucks from obtaining a Certificate of Fitness.
This fault was not limited to just Auckland but impacted many of the new MAN fire trucks received in service throughout New Zealand in the last four years.
It has now been over six months and FENZ has yet to provide a remedy or fix for these front line emergency vehicles, with the relief appliances that were originally swapped into front line response as a short term fix now experiencing constant faults and break downs.
In order to provide a full picture of the ongoing state of the emergency response fleet in Auckland, the Local asks that ALL appliance defects are also reported to the Local as well as the Fleet Service Provider and the Region Fleet Manager.
The point of contact for all defects will be:
Terry Bird - kiwiterrybird@gmail.com
When emailing defects through, can members please include the following detail:
- Call sign
- Registration
- Make
- Model
- Type (3/4/5/6, Other)
- Nature of Defect
- Recurring Fault (Y/N)
- Appliance K0 (Y/N), Time Hrs
- Appliance KE (Y/N)
- Appliance Change Over required (Y/N), Time Hrs
The safety and well-being of Firefighters and the members of the public are paramount. Emergency response vehicles must be safe and fit for purpose to ensure that they arrive at emergency incidents in a safe and efficient manner. They must also be guaranteed to work as expected on their arrival.
To such end, Officers and crews are reminded that when tasked to change vehicles to a relief appliance, that it must be given a thorough acceptance test first, thereby ensuring that it is totally fit for purpose before beginning the change-over.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Pump Engagement and operation
- Relief Valves
- Hose Reel Operation (including rewind)
- Delivery Valves and Pump Gauges
- Tank to Pump Valve
- Water Leaks
- Emergency Response Warning Equipment such as Beacons, Siren and Air Horn
- Oil Leaks
- Vehicle Safety Features such as ABS, Traction Control, Engine retarder, Hand Brake
- Tyre tread and condition
- Headlights, Indicators, Warning gauges
- Door handles, window winder controls, seatbelts
- Locker Body Condition
If any fault is discovered, regardless of how trivial, report it immediately to the Fleet Service Provider, and reject the defective vehicle until all faults are fixed and the appliance is fit for purpose.
If there is any doubt on the suitability of an appliance as a relief, please contact one of the Local Executive for further clarification before changeover.
