Fire and life safety field technicians create the foundation of fire suppression teams, playing the role of the sturdy backbone, ensuring high quality service and frictionless implementation. Responsible for inspecting, servicing, installing, and maintaining fire and life safety equipment, a field technician is working every day to ensure their customers’ needs are met.
At Impact Fire, we pride ourselves on our diverse group of talented and passionate fire and life safety professionals. From fire extinguisher technicians to fire sprinkler fitters, we have conducted several interviews with various Impact Fire employees to provide you an inside look into a typical day in the life of fire and life safety field technicians.
A Typical Workday for a Fire and Life Safety Field Technician
It's difficult to use blanket statements and generalizations to encompass a typical workday for fire and life safety field technicians due to their wide range of responsibilities. One of the few accurate generalizations is that fire and life safety field technicians can expect no two days will be the same. If you fear monotony, a field technician position is a great place to start.
Field technicians for various services can expect to see on average 5-10 projects or tasks assigned to them each day. These tasks can include but are not limited to:
- Kitchen hood inspections
- Fire extinguisher maintenance
- Fire suppression system installation
- Tailored fire sprinkler design
- Fire alarm testing
- Fire pump code consulting
- Backflow device repair
In addition to their service responsibilities, field technicians play an integral role in the collaborative process required daily to ensure the smooth flow of operations. Field technicians utilize their interpersonal skills on a daily basis to be productive team members and ensure they are equipped with the proper tools to do their jobs correctly. One of our fire suppression field technicians, Kyle, had this to say about the daily collaborative process:
“I consistently have open communication with my colleagues in the field. I use my peers to ask questions and glean insights I have yet to learn. They are always eager to answer anything I throw at them. My supervisor is always available and willing to take time out of her day to go into job specifics and/or software-related inquiries. Everyone is very down to earth and approachable. Working alongside them is seamless.”
Regardless of the service area, whether that be fire extinguishers or kitchen fire suppression systems, collaboration will be utilized each and every day. From dispatching and scheduling with administration to ordering materials and supplies with management, a field technician must be able to communicate effectively in order to maintain productivity.
We have created a basic overview of a typical workday for a fire and life safety field technician based on several interviews with our passionate employees. Broken down by mornings and afternoons, here’s what prospective field technicians can expect.
Mornings
A typical morning for a fire and life safety field technician is centered around planning. A well organized schedule is a mark of a successful field technician. The best field technicians engrain time management best practices and take pride in their tightly organized daily schedules. Once field technicians finalize their daily schedule, they begin planning out the most logical routes to their jobs. With their schedules and routes finalized, they can now begin checking equipment and vehicle inventory. Once inventory levels are verified, field technicians are ready to do what they do best: help their customers.
Afternoons
Articulated by one of our more seasoned field technicians, a typical afternoon for a fire and life safety technician consists of, “service, service, service!!!” When it comes down to brass tacks, a day in the life of a field technician is centered around quickly solving customer problems. This is the defining trait of a successful fire and life safety field technician. Each and every day, they are energized when presented with a new challenge.
Since we pride ourselves on only hiring the most passionate and dedicated individuals, it comes as no surprise that the overwhelming response from our field technicians when asked what their favorite part of the day is, is interacting with customers and solving their problems. In addition to inspecting, servicing, installing, and maintaining fire and life safety equipment, a typical afternoon for a fire and life safety field technician can consists of:
- Staying in contact with dispatchers and managers
- Quickly closing out emergency calls as needed
- Calling the office for documents, reports, materials, or new work orders as needed
- Locating materials and coordinating work for the next day
- Reviewing schedules and plans for the week ahead
Start Your Journey as a Fire and Life Safety Field Technician Today
From rewarding customer interactions to stimulating collaboration on a daily basis, a career as a fire and life safety field technician brings extensive benefits. With a wide range of responsibilities, field technicians will enjoy the unique challenge each and every day brings.
Individuals interested in joining the Impact Fire team as a field technician should get in touch with us to learn more about how they can begin their unique fire and life safety journey.
A special thanks to our employees Tim, Mike, Kyle, and Trey for helping us tell the story of a day in the life of fire and life safety field technicians.
