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Risk Management Committee

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Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The Risk Management Committee (RMC) provides national leadership in wildland firefighter risk management, health and safety. The RMC develops, promotes, and facilitates universal risk management principles that help firefighters and fire managers mitigate or eliminate the conditions that lead to accidents, illnesses, injuries and deaths of firefighters and other incident personnel. 

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Primary Objectives

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  • Develop nationally recognized and accepted standards, processes, and tools for risk management in the wildland fire services.
  • Provide all organizational levels a foundation for effective risk management to improve situational awareness and decision making in dynamic high-risk situations.
  • Evaluate identified safety issues and provide recommendations to the wildland fire community through established communications processes.
  • Support efforts that will lead to increased knowledge and practical applications in the field of wildland fire risk management.
  • Contribute to the standardization of information technology systems (such as FireNet, IROC, etc.) to collect and distribute data, processes, forms, and other operational elements.

Hot Topics

Safety Gram

Reporting Criteria

Safety Officer Toolkit

Disclaimer: These products are under development. Safety Officers are encouraged to test these products and provide feedback.   Approved NWCG standards and references are available on incident position pages.

Links of Interest

Chair: Mack McFarland

NWCG Coordinator: Katy O'Hara

Parent Committee:

Meeting Schedule: Monthly on the second Thursday

Page Last Modified or Reviewed:

NWCG Latest Announcements

2025 Professional Reading Program

Date: February 18, 2025
Contact: Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program (WFLDP)

The Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program is announcing the 2025 Professional Reading list! The goal of the annual reading list is to promote the reading and discussion of the books throughout the year.

The five books chosen for this year are: Surf When You Can by Brett Crozier, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Elephant Company by Vicki Constantine Croke, Simply Managing by Henry Mintzberg, and Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Metcalf.

References:

Professional Reading Program

Task Group Volunteers Needed to Update the Property Loss or Damage Report, OF 289

Date: February 5, 2025
Contact: Julie Bennett, Incident Business Committee Chair

The Incident Business Committee (IBC) is requesting volunteers for a new task group to revise the 1981 version of the Property Loss or Damage Report, OF 289 and create an incident replacement job aid. The volunteers may be recruited from within or outside the Geographic Area Incident Business Committees.

References:

IBC Memorandum 25-02

IBC Correspondence

2025 Updates to the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1

Date: February 4, 2025
Contact: Incident and Position Standards Committee

The NWCG Incident and Position Standards Committee has updated the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1. 

These updates address changes to incident position names and requirements for qualification, training, and experience. Updates related to the implementation of Complex Incident Management (CIM) are also included.  

The NWCG Wildland Fire Position Qualification Flowchart, PMS 308 has also been updated to reflect the recent changes.

References:

NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1

NWCG Wildland Fire Position Qualification Flowchart, PMS 308

NWCG Memo: 2025-01 January 2025 Updates to the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Positions Qualifications, PMS 310-1

NWCG Equipment Technology Committee Releases Safety Warning: 25-001 Non-specification fire shelters

Date: January 15, 2025
Contact: Equipment Technology Committee

The Equipment Technology Committee (ETC) has released Safety Warning: 25-001 Non-specification fire shelters. Non-specification fire shelters claiming to meet Forest Service (FS) fire shelter specification 5100-606 were first found in February of 2023. As of September 2024, non-specification shelters are again being advertised and sold on the open market.

This Safety Warning outlines details and recommended procedures to purchase FS specification shelters made with materials and components that meet performance criteria and toxicity testing requirements outlined in FS Specification 5100-606. 

For additional information on identifying non-specification shelters, please view ETC Safety Warning 23-01.

References:

ETC Safety Warning 25-001: Non-specification fire shelters

NWCG Equipment Technology Committee

ETC Safety Warning 23-01