When it comes to fitness AND safety I tend to apply one, simple, rule: are my team mates capable of dragging me to safety if they had to during an emergency on a job. It sounds as simple as it is. Of course, we expect and demand this minimum level of safety when operating under air (as one example) to meet the minimum safety requirements i.e. Minimum Teams of Two. But in all honestly and realism, are we meeting this one requirement? In times of ‘near enough is good enough’ and a trend towards ignoring the physical attributes of our rescue operators, I believe that we must (as leaders and decision makers) sit back and take stock to ensure that our departments are meeting these minimum requirements, drills that we train for and standards we hold ourselves accountable for. In no way, shape or form is this a dig or finger pointing exercise at any operator that can’t physically drag their mate to safety. It is however, an opportunity to think to ourselves: Who is responsible if we have a team mate down and the immediate member with that downed operator are physically unable to drag them to safety, are we operating under the safe work practices of ‘Minimum Teams of Two’ rule for a reason? Have we/I misinterpreted the intent of the standards? If members can’t meet that standard, how then are we recording this and how then, do we create measured and sustainable fitness for work practices that can get them up to scratch to ensure we meet realistic expectations? A good business and point of contact on this is INCOVER Solutions who looks at functional fitness standards to keep our people safe. I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on this basic requirement… Is it reasonable what I am discussing? How can we get there? Do we enforce more realistic standards that meet our safety criteria?