Context Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) mission is to be ‘prepared for anything – to protect the irreplaceable’. Prevention and Education has been identified as a key organisational capability. FRNSW provides services across Preventiaon and Education, Fire, Rescue, Hazmat, Environmental Protection, Natural Disaster and Humanitarian Relief, Medical Response and Counter Terrorism to New South Wales 7.5 Million population.

Process Partnering with The Behavioural Architects, FRNSW embarked on a three-month project to understand the causes of low participation rates in its Home Fire Safety Checks program and what could be done to change behaviour. The Behavioural Architects travelled around NSW, visiting stations, attending home fire safety checks, observing the behaviour of firefighters and interviewing commanders to better understand what was preventing engagement at all levels of the workforce.

Analysis Using the insights and recommendations from the project, FRNSW completely relaunched the program at the start of the 2019/20 FY under the new name – Safety Visits. The relaunch of the program saw a total transformation in the way the program was delivered.

Outcomes Since its relaunch, an almost 60% increase in the monthly rate of delivery of the program has occurred from an average of 830 visits per month under the HFSC program, to a monthly delivery rate of over 1400 visits per month under the Safety Visits Program (despite the significant impact of the 2019/20 bushfires).

Learning Outcomes The use of a behavioural science lense can have a significant impact on understanding and overcoming the barriers to implementation of injury prevention programs.