Is the Safety Officer Really an Officer?

摘要

Dear Nozzlehead: I'm our fire department safety officer, and I'm frustrated. We're working on putting together department standard operating procedures/guidelines ISOPs/SOGs), and one of our biggest stumbling blocks, arguments or whatever you want to call it is the authority of the safety officer. I've attended many classes and talked to many people over the last few years about this, and everybody tells me that just having the title "safety officer" isn't enough because there's no rank associated with it—and that's exactly the problem I'm having in our fire company. I can talk 'til I'm blue in the face and yet we have fire officers who totally disregard what I have to say because they feel I'm either stepping on their toes or interfering with their "fun." We have one chief who, when he's in command, doesn't even want a safety officer because what he says goes, and that's that.