Firefighters union says South Island Comms Centre facing staffing crisis

Saturday, 4 June 2022

Fire and Emergency’s Southern Fire Communication Centre is in crisis with only one dispatcher working on Saturday night, the fire union says.

However, Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) says contingency plans are in place and the organisation's ability to respond to calls is not compromised.

NZ Professional Firefighters Union national secretary Wattie Watson​ said one of the two dispatchers rostered to work in Christchurch on Saturday night had called in sick.

With no replacement, a single dispatcher was left to cover the whole South Island, alongside a shift manager and two call takers.

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“The pressure on one dispatcher is too heavy. Hopefully nothing major happens across the South Island,” she said.

FENZ National Communication Centres manager Gavin Travers said no replacement had been found as the sick leave was called at the last minute.

However, it was business as usual.

Call takers and dispatchers covered for each other when they were taking a break, he said.

No 111 fire call went unanswered anywhere in New Zealand as each call was picked up by the next available person in any of the three communication centres, in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, he said.

Watson said if other centres were providing back up for the south, then they were not covering their own patch.

Also, it was often more difficult for North Island staff to deploy the correct brigades to calls, particularly in rural locations.

It was not an occasional situation, she said.

“It might sound minor but it’s not. We only have to have a couple of things on and that’s really tough for one person to deal with.

“People are being pushed to the limit,” she said.

The staffing crisis had been under way for several months, with dispatch staff being moved between the three centres.

Travers said there were sufficient staff numbers and Wellington was recruiting three new staff members this month.

On May 26 the union announced firefighters would be going on strike as they rejected Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s offer to settle the collective agreement.

They said staffing levels for career firefighters were at a “crisis level” throughout Auckland, resulting in trucks being out of commission.

Travers said the industrial action would not impact on FENZ crews responding to emergencies.