Fire brigade intervention considerations in adopting lifts for supplementary evacuation

Tass is passionate about improving the professionalism of the built environment sector and advocating for safe environments for firefighters and broader community. Key presentation experiences for Tass include speaking at the 2010 NFPA fire safety conference and expo in Las Vegas on a performance-based design case study, the 2015 Institution of Fire Engineers conference in Canberra on the consideration of hostile events for fire safety professionals and the 2021 Institution of Fire Engineers virtual conference on successfully advocating for built environment reform.

Tass commenced his professional fire safety career in 2001, when he joined the Country Fire Authority as a structural fire safety officer. In 2002, he joined the Metropolitan Fire Brigade as their senior building surveyor and in 2010 was promoted to the manager of the MFB’s Community Safety Technical Department. Following significant cladding fire incidents in Australia and the UK, Tass was seconded into a new unit established within the MFB, who’s focus was to undertake research and advocate for legislative and technical reform. In this new advocacy role, Tass was heavily involved in the preparation of the MFB’s submissions to the Federal Senate Economics References Committee’s inquiry into non-conforming building products, the Victorian Cladding Taskforce,  the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into recycling and waste management as well as submissions to the Building Ministers’ Forum expert assessment project on Building Confidence.

Upon the formation of Fire Rescue Victoria in 2020, Tass was appointed to the role of Manager and Senior Engineer of the Fire Safety Strategy, Policy and Reform unit.

Tass holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Building Surveying from Swinburne University, a Master of Engineering in Construction Management from Swinburne University and a Graduate Diploma in Building Fire Safety and Risk Engineering from Victoria University. Tass is a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers, Australian Institute of Building and the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors.

In addition to his professional achievements, Tass is a junior basketball coach, he participates in Olympic weightlifting activities and is a passionate supporter of South Melbourne FC and AEK Athens FC in the world game, as well as the Sydney Swans and Miami Dolphins in the NFL.