The CFAA recently awarded several deserving technicians across Canada with the Above and Beyond Award. This program gives the opportunity for outstanding technicians to be recognized for the work they do in the industry.

Being in the fire alarm industry for over 25 years, and volunteering with the CFAA for over a decade, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of great fire alarm technicians. Aside from my role with the CFAA, my full-time job is managing a fire alarm service and sales branch. As a result, I not only see the challenges our technicians face across the country, I also see firsthand the work fire alarm technicians do every day. While these awards recognize outstanding examples of technicians going above and beyond the expectations, I believe the majority of technicians go the extra mile almost every day.

Being a fire alarm technician requires someone to be conscientious, detail oriented, and ethical. These traits are important when your job is to ensure life safety systems are working properly. We also know that working as a fire alarm tech, things can go wrong, and your day can change in an instant. Any technician who hasn’t experienced a routine inspection or service call go completely sideways probably hasn’t been at it long enough. As I write this on a Saturday morning, one of my technicians is working on a fire alarm panel replacement after an early morning false alarm turned into something much more complicated. These things happen, and working in life safety requires our technicians to care enough to ensure that when they leave a building, the people in it safe to the best of their abilities. This isn’t a career for the type of person who doesn’t take responsibility or pride in their work. Fortunately, there are thousands of technicians across the country who fit the bill. While these awards are given to nominees who were exceptional examples, I know there are many more deserving candidates out there.

To all of you who care about the work you do to keep people across the country safe, I thank you for your hard work and dedication on behalf of the CFAA. I also want to thank the Technician’s Committee members and office staff for their work in putting the Above and Beyond awards together. Lastly, Congratulations to all the winners and thanks for setting a great example.