Effective and efficient fire departments have strong policies and procedures in place to guide the actions of their personnel. I’ve written about this before, but to the uninitiated, policies and procedures may seem like one and the same. They’re actually quite different, though they interact and rely on each other.
A solid framework of policies provides fire service professionals and volunteers with boundaries within which they are expected to operate. By the same token, standardized procedures guide the specific actions of fire service personnel as they serve the community.
Both documents are important, and strong organizations maintain them separately.
Every fire department, regardless of size or whether they are a career or volunteer organization, needs written policies and procedures.
Policies vs. Procedures
At Lexipol, policies are “guiding principles intended to influence decisions and actions.” In the most basic terms, policies are rules. Policies tell employees what they can do, what they are expected to do, or what they cannot do. Policies are widespread in application; they typically apply to all personnel, and they address major organizational issues.
In conjunction with policies, fire departments need to have written procedures. Procedures are fundamentally different than policies. In Lexipol terms, procedures are “a particular and specific way of doing things.” In essence, they describe a process. Because of this, they are often very narrow in application and are stated in detail. By nature, procedures change more often than policies due to evolution in technology, equipment or processes.
Examples of Policies and Procedures
To illustrate the differences between policy and procedure in the fire service, consider the topic of personal protective equipment (PPE). Department policy will tell firefighters when they are required to wear their PPE in particular situations. Policy will also provide limitations on how members may alter their PPE, and state their PPE must be properly decontaminated after a vehicle or structure fire.
A corresponding departmental procedure will then describe how PPE is to be decontaminated, or what needs to be done with PPE that has been damaged. The rule (policy) that firefighters need to wear their personal protective equipment for fires involving vehicles or structures is unlikely to change. The specific steps firefighters must take to decontaminate their PPE (procedure) is likely to evolve as new detergents become available, different materials are used, and departments purchase new extractors or dryers for PPE.
There are instances, though, when a procedure needs to be included within a policy. If we consider a policy on discriminatory harassment, there is a procedure that must be followed if an employee believes they are being harassed or a supervisor becomes aware of harassment taking place. This procedure becomes a part of the “rules” in this situation because a supervisor may be disciplined for not properly responding to or reporting the harassment up the chain of command.
Lexipol’s fire/rescue policy management solution: LEARN MORE
Easy to Read and Follow
By design, Lexipol strives to craft policies that are easy to understand on the first read. We believe brevity is clarity. With that, Lexipol policies and procedures do not include any training materials. For example, if a policy states firefighters must wear their PPE, a procedure then describes the process for how PPE is to be decontaminated. We do not include in either document the warning that repeated exposure to contaminated PPE puts firefighters at greater risk for cancer, or that structural firefighting PPE provides little to no protection from most hazardous materials. These are training points typically taught to every firefighter.
Every fire department, regardless of size or whether they are a career or volunteer organization, needs written policies and procedures. Policies should guide the actions of personnel, and procedures explain what personnel need to do to be in compliance with the policy.
