Phase 2. Assessing high reliability behaviors in the federal fire community
We are currently collecting data through a telephone survey of BLM and NPS and USFS fire staff. We expect to post results in early 2008.
Click here to view Agency Outreach Letter - June 20, 2007
Purpose: The primary purpose of this research effort is to come to a fuller understanding of how fire managers across all functional levels are using, in their daily work lives, the principles of high reliability organizing (HRO) as described by Karl Weick and Kathleen Sutcliffe in their book, Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in the Age of Complexity.
Our primary goal is to compare unit behavior on prescribed fire, wildland fire use and suppression events. Secondary strata for comparisons include agency (NFS, NPS, BLM) and position (ground, district, forest/park/resource area). Ground-level positions include: engine captain, crew foreman, hotshot superintendents, and helitak. District positions cover AFMO (Fuels) and AFMO (Fire). Forest positions include AFMO and FMO - generally for fire and fuels combined.
Our interests are both practical and theoretical. Practically, we seek to establish a baseline measure for the fire community and determine whether there are significant differences in behavior across fire type, unit type and agency. Theoretically, we are interested in whether the 5 principles can be measured and evaluated on their own, or whether 'mindfulness' is a single construct on its own, and how 'mindfulness' is related to other constructs such as 'respectful interaction', 'heedful interrelating' and 'leadership'. The survey instrument will be the primary means for quantifying and evaluating these questions. Field work seeks to explore opportunities for furthering our understanding of mindfulness and fire operations by using 'participant-observers' - active fire personnel with an academic interest in HRO - to determine degree of convergence between espoused and enacted behaviors. This latter is not intended to be definitive, only investigative.
Data collection and sampling: The 15 minute telephone survey will be conducted by the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research and will sample permanent primary fire employees at the regional and field levels across the country. A random sample of approximately 500 people will be drawn from the Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management fire organizations. Information obtained will be confidential.
Analysis: Analysis will use both Structural Equation Modeling to extract information about the process and flow of high reliability, and standard comparison testing to identify differences among sub-groups. The analysis work will be completed by the University of Michigan and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute.
Results: Results should have enormous practical possibilities, not only in improving overall work performance, but increase the fire community's ability to manage high-risk fire programs with a heightened sense of safety awareness and efficiency.
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