TriTech Lubricants factory fire

The Fire Services Commissioner requested the Emergency Services Commissioner undertake a review of the fire that occurred on 19 May 2011 at the TriTech Lubricants factory fire located in Dandenong South.

The scope of the review was to consider:

• The ‘command, control and coordination’ arrangements established at the incident, including any multi agency/organisation arrangements implemented to consider and deal with the broader consequences of this fire.

• The control strategies implemented by the incident controller for the Tri Tech lubricants fire.

• The issuing of community information and warnings to assist the community make informed decisions regarding their safety.

The Emergency Services Commissioner has completed the review for the Fire Services Commissioner. The report has been discussed with the Chief Fire Officer from MFB and the Chief Officer at CFA.  An implementation plan has been developed to address the recommendations.

Update

The Fire Services Commissioner completed a review into the TriTech Fire that occurred on the 19 May 2011. The review made a number of recommendations. One of the recommendations related to “The Fire Services Commissioner ensures that there is a single standard for the tabards worn by the IMT on the fire ground and in control centres to ensure consistency and aid interoperability.”

In addressing this recommendation, a project was initiated by the Fire Services Commissioner to develop a set of standards for tabards. The following reports, Tabard Review: Summary Report and Tabard Review: Phase 2 outline the process and methodology in developing the standard.

The tabard schedule has been supported and the short-term actions to implement the standard are:
•        Develop a specification
•        Enable common procurement across the sector
•        Agencies develop an implementation plan
•        Monitor progress
•        Evaluate outcomes

There is recognition that a considerable investment into existing tabards and the intent of the implementation plan is to replace tabards as they become unserviceable on an annual basis.