Creating a Culture of Ethics and Integrity in the Fire Service

Formal department values

Creating a culture of ethics in the fire service starts with building a foundation of integrity and ethics into your department’s core values.

No matter the size of your department, you should have a defined code of ethics or written core values. This will create a formal foundation for ethics by establishing guidelines for making decisions in tricky situations.

Department values should be a core thread that runs through everything your department does.

Core values help leaders make decisions about who to hire and promote. They inform policies and procedures and shape the way a department conducts training.

Creating written core values will help your department clearly articulate these values to every employee.

Gather a team of department leaders and team members to brainstorm what’s most important to your department. Then put those values down in writing and regularly repeat them in training and department meetings.

Informal team values and expectations

Of course, your department is already operating with certain values and expectations even if they’re not formalized.

As you work to create formalized core values, take your current department culture into account.

• What unspoken expectations exist in your department?
• Does your department have any traditions?
• What do your employees see as the mission of the department?
• How do they see themselves fitting into that mission?

Informal values can be powerful.

New recruits will quickly pick up and adapt to unspoken expectations and help enforce them on the next round of recruits. Therefore, it’s essential that your department’s informal values match up with the culture you want for your department.

Start with your own behavior

Culture change often starts on an individual level. To influence cultural change, you have to be willing to stand out and go against the flow.

Even if others aren’t doing it, treat everyone the same, act with integrity, follow the code of ethics, and adhere to proper policy and procedure.

Leading by example is of particular importance for department leaders, but it applies to employees at all levels.

As one writer put it in an article for Fire Engineering magazine:

This is the time, you – as a leader – and your core group can “walk the walk” and lead by example. … If your core values are passion, professionalism, and integrity, bleed those values each day. … The core values should have meaning to you, so it should be easy for you to come to work each day and be passionate about everything you do. Be the symbol of professionalism to those around you.

Don’t ignore bad behavior

Leading by example is not always going to be easy.

Creating a culture of ethics in the fire service requires that individuals act ethically. But it also means that firefighters can’t simply stand by if they witness a fellow team member doing something unsafe, immoral, or inappropriate.

Loyalty is essential in the fire service.

Firefighters must have each other’s backs. They commit to never leaving anyone behind. But the concept of loyalty to the team can go too far.

If firefighters value loyalty to their co-workers over other values or ethical considerations, they may be tempted to stay silent about bad behavior or even join in on covering up unethical activities.

If you cover up or excuse an incident, it may happen again and can ultimately have dire consequences. Unethical practices can hurt public trust. Unsafe practices may put people in danger.

A culture of ethics in the fire service encourages team members to intervene in such instances.

Firefighter Nation offers 8 Standing Orders for Ethical or Moral Dilemmas, which provide good steps to follow:

1. Intervene aggressively if witnessing an illegal event.
2. Aggressively seek assistance.
3. Initiate all actions based upon observed behavior or facts presented—not on personal bias, assumptions, or rationalization.
4. Ask probing questions.
5. Retain control at all time.
6. Stay alert, keep calm, think clearly, act decisively.
7. Communicate immediately with your supervisor.
8. Provide protection, direction, and order.

Work with officers as well as rank and file

A culture of ethics in the fire service often starts at the top. If commanders act immorally or turn a blind eye to bad behavior, other employees will follow suit. However, line staff are the ones who will live out and perpetuate the department culture in day-to-day operations.

Fire departments must incorporate ethics into training for both leadership and line-level team members. They should also consider ethics and integrity when making decisions about who to hire or promote.

Those being promoted to management and command positions should model department values.

Make culture a topic of conversation

Changing the culture of your department requires getting buy-in from every staff member.

The best way to do this is to be as transparent and open as possible about the process. Trying to force cultural change on employees simply won’t work.

Don’t try to start from scratch or scrap all existing informal department traditions. The idea is to strengthen what’s good and gently redirect unwritten expectations that may need to change.

As your department works to create a culture of ethics, gather employees from different levels of the organization to dialogue. Have open discussions about the department’s core values, issues within the firehouse, and what needs to change.