As a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, I believe that the Safety, Health and Survival Section, has a responsibility to address issues that will have the effect of increasing the Safety, Health and Survival of the fire service. There will be times that the stand of the section will offend, though it is rarely my intent or that of the section to do so. It is not our place to change people or their beliefs, but we are certainly interested in seeing the culture of the fire service changed to create a culture more accepting of safety as a norm.

To this end, there may be a need for fire chiefs, especially those who want to be considered leaders, to evaluate carefully what they say and when they say it. This is especially true of fire chiefs who say things that indicate a lack of concern about the safety of those they lead. Not only do "loose lips" regarding safety issues fortify a negative safety culture, they also create a situation that both the leader and the followers may want to look into in their evaluation of where the leader is trying to go.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has much of the fire service talking and taking action to adopt the concepts mentioned in their "16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives." I had the privilege of participating in the Life Safety Summit and recall that the initiatives were not listed in any particular priority. However, an interesting - almost "Freudian" - situation, has occurred regarding how the initiatives are listed. The initiative that tends to be listed first is "Define and advocate the need for a cultural change within the fire service relating to safety; incorporating leadership, management, supervision, accountability and personal responsibility." Cultural change in a fire department is absolutely doomed to fail if the fire chief defends a culture that produces unacceptable numbers of injuries and deaths to its members with his/her tongue.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English language: Fourth Edition defines "leader" in a number of ways, including:

• One that leads or guides
• One who is in charge or in command of others
• One who heads a political party or organization
• One who has influence or power

To the leaders, if the answer is no to all of these and similar questions, what you say should be consistent with what you do and what you do should be consistent with what you believe. If for some reason beyond my comprehension the answer to any of these questions is yes, it might be a better idea to act as if you believe in safety, but keep your words to yourself. Doing so may be able to fool the rest of us into thinking you are supportive of the safety movement.

To the followers, if, based on what your leader says, you believe your leader would answer no to these questions, make sure their actions are consistent and don't think this relieves you of the responsibility of doing what it takes to keep yourself safe. If, based on what your leader says, you believe your leader would answer yes…maybe you should consider your choice of leaders.