4. Leading and being led
For emergency response operations that are extensive, that conti-
nue over a long period of time, that involve large numbers of per-
sonnel or personnel from several different organizations, there
can be a certain risk for uncertainty as to who is in charge on vari-
ous levels at incident sites. Issues concerning responsibilities, obli-
gations and authorities thus also become uncertain. The Swedish
Civil Protection Act (2003:778) stipulates that in a municipality,
there shall be a fire chief and that this person or a person appointed
by the fire chief is the incident commander. It is also stipulated
that the operational commander shall lead response operations. If
the fire chief has appointed another person as the incident com-
mander, the fire chief still retains overall responsibility for opera-
tions. The appointed incident commander must follow the instruc-
tions and directions issued by the fire chief. In other respects, the
Civil Protection Act includes no stipulations regarding the relation-
ships between management personnel and other personnel.
The Civil Protection Act includes stipulations concerning the
incident commander and this person’s responsibilities, obliga-
tions and authorities, primarily as related to third parties and
other organizations. The act clarifies, among other things, the re-
lationships between third parties and a municipal structure for
providing rescue services. The stipulations concerning incident
commanders are insufficient in describing and clarifying the in-
ternal distribution of responsibilities, obligations and authorities.
There is, however, another piece of legislation that also applies to
the execution of emergency response operations, not the least in
matters of responsibility relationships between management staff
and subordinate personnel.
Labour legislation and labour management legislation
Fire brigade personnel are employed by a municipality and there
is normally some form of agreement or employment relationship
that regulates the individual firefighters’, as well supervisors’,