QFES won’t mandate vaccinations, leaving fully vaccinated firefighters concerned about their health off the job

It’s not just anti-vaxxers losing their livelihoods, a double-jabbed Gold Coast firefighter is off the job until the QFES adopts a vaccine mandate, writes Ann Wason Moore.

The virus promised we were all in this together, but the vaccine is tearing us apart.

And it’s our workforce where we can most clearly see the damage.

Yet it’s not just anti-vaxxers walking away from their jobs and livelihoods, even the double-jabbed are being forced to make tough decisions.

Double-jabbed people like Peter*.

Peter is a Gold Coast firefighter who is fully vaccinated … and now off the job.

Picture: Jerad Williams

Why? Because Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has no vaccine mandate and therefore, since his workplace is not prioritising his health and safety, he is not working.

But Peter is just another example of the contrary working world of Covid-19, where doing the right thing can see someone marginalised or punished. (See: abuse of Burleigh Pavilion owner Ben May, who dared to support the state government’s vaccine mandate)

A world where doing the wrong thing can see a business celebrated. (See: every anti-vax cafe’s five-star reviews from fellow anti-vaxxers).

It’s a world where our Prime Minister says we don’t need mask mandates because we’ll just wear them anyway … like sunscreen in summer.

“In the same way as we go into the summer season, people will be slapping on the hat and slapping on the sunscreen,” said Mr Morrison. “There’s no rule or requirement to do that, but it is strongly recommended health advice. It’s in the same category.”

Sure, except you can’t catch sunburn from someone else. And also, our schools DO mandate hats and sunscreen. Every child knows the mantra “no hat, no play”.

Yet in this contrary Covid world, hypocrisy and contradiction are increasingly popular … such as when anti-vaxxers protest for their rights and freedoms, but fail to see how their actions are imprisoning others.

And that brings us back to Peter’s workplace.

Peter* can’t fathom why the QFES won’t mandate vaccination. He says he feels unsafe at work.

“As a firefighter, I am deeply concerned that the QFES will not mandate vaccination. This has placed me in an untenable position to attend work,” he says.

“The government says an unvaccinated firefighter cannot go to a hotel, but I am forced to sit beside one in a fire truck.

“The decision is hypocritical, the working process is untenable and Workplace Health and Safety has been ignored.

“Most of the firefighters are stunned with the decision that (QFES Commissioner Greg Leach) presented to us on December 17. I have booked off work and won’t be returning till a mandate is introduced.

“This feels like a win for the anti-vaxxers, and something that will set a dangerous precedent.”

While a vaccine mandate for QFES is difficult given the large number of volunteers involved in its Rural Fire Service and the SES, it seems obvious that the organisation will shed members no matter what it decides.

So why not then decide on the side of public – and employee – safety? Even if the mandate applies only to the paid workforce, it’s at least pulling firefighters into line with other emergency services.

Peter says the current situation leaves the fire service overexposed to Covid spread, and he fears the impact this will have on the public.

Peter says the rules are double standards. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Already, he says, standards are slipping simply because unvaccinated workers cannot complete their tasks.

“There’s a truck that has two vaccinated firefighters and two unvaccinated firefighters, but it’s the vaccinated workers who are doing the heavy lifting,” he says.

“Every time they go to Robina Hospital – which is a lot, we’re always checking alarms – the unvaccinated workers just wait outside doing nothing. They’re not allowed in the hospital due to the government rules. It’s ridiculous. What happens if it’s an emergency?

“Then there’s the matter of dealing with police and ambulance workers. Anytime we are issued an inter-agency job, we must comply with their rules … and both those services have vaccine mandates.

“Why are we the only service without a mandate? It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever come across.

“The Commissioner certainly pushed everyone to get vaccinated and hinted there would be a mandate. But then on December 17 we were instead issued these standing orders, which are instructions on how to perform basic work procedures around all of the restrictions when we have unvaccinated workers. It just makes no sense.”

And for Peter, it’s not just a matter of protection but of principle. He worries about the repercussions of the QFES and the absent mandate.

Picture: Glenn Hampson

“This decision – or lack of a decision – sets a precedent for every other firefighter and every other fire service in Australia to demand no vaccine mandate … just like the QFES,” he says.

“Then in five years’ time we’ll have another issue come up and we’ll look back at 2021 and use this decision as a precedent, even though it contravenes the very intention of our Workplace Health and Safety rules … which is to minimise risk.

“We’ve changed our working ways to pander to the unvaccinated.

“I became a firefighter because I believe in serving our community and looking after my neighbours. But now the service itself is letting me down.”

Here’s hoping that in 2022 we can finally find a cure for the contrary working world of Covid.

*Not his real name.