Commissioner's certificate of commendation- Inspector William (Bill) James Britt
Published Date: 04 May 2014
Summary
Inspector William (Bill) Britt has been a diligent member of the Far West Team staff for a number of years.
During this time he has specialised providing Learning and Development opportunities for the volunteers of remote Far West NSW Rural Fire Brigades. During this period, Bill has developed an understanding of the difficulties facing these volunteer members and the disadvantages they face in obtaining updated training and other information due to their remote locations.
After being faced with the issue of distance, remote locations and difficulty in getting people together at central locations for training activities, it became obvious to Bill that the traditional face to face training ethos of the organisation was not viable in the Far West. It also became clear that the computer and internet usage rates across the area were very high, with most people undertaking much of their business activities over the Internet. With this in mind, Bill customised a complete ELearning process which allows for the theory component of all mainstream NSW Rural Fire Service training packages to be delivered remotely and in the learner's own time and location. After many hours of preparation, approvals and testing, the E-Learning packages have now been fully developed and approved and are being embraced by many members of the remote brigades across the Far West Team.
This process has allowed new members to start obtaining skills as soon as they join their brigade, no longer do they need to wait until a course is available somewhere across the Districts. We are confident that this process will not only increase the knowledge base of our remote firefighters, but it will also encourage new members to take ownership of their new skills and not be dependent upon the availability of others.
Due to the success of the E-Learning packages, it is now much more about practical skills and assessment than face to face presentation.
