4 Continuous improvement

Since IGEM commenced monitoring bushfire fuel management recommendations, and managing the investigation and reporting of breaches of planned burn control lines, DELWP (and its staff) have demonstrated commitment to progressing its organisation's processes and culture toward one that is more engaged with partner agencies and the greater community. IGEM made six recommendations in its 2016–17 summary report, and makes one further recommendation in this report.

In implementing recommendations and applying continuous improvement practices, there is some evidence to suggest that the occurrence of planned burns breaching control lines is reducing as depicted in Figure 1.

Number of planned burns that breached control lines over time

In the conduct of IGEM’s assurance activities, DELWP has provided examples of its lessons-sharing products. These serve to identify lessons from past events and share them with staff. DELWP is yet to measure the effectiveness of these products, however IGEM considers that sharing experiences and learnings is a positive improvement in DELWP's lessons management and continuous improvement culture. IGEM encourages DELWP to continue to broaden its focus beyond its own organisation by incorporating lessons from, and to share its own lessons with, partner agencies.