WHEN disaster strikes, Sean O'Brien is never far away.
Sean is deputy unit manager of Bayswater State Emergency Service (SES).
A member since 2008, he has volunteered more than 14 hours a week every week for nearly 10 years - all while having a full-time job.
Sean's efforts have earned him a nomination in the People's Choice Spirit of Volunteering category of the WA Volunteer of the Year awards, to be announced in Perth on May 24.
He came to the Bayswater SES, in Perth, through friends and enjoys doing something completely different from his day job in printing.
"I would say if you are going to volunteer it is good to do something outside your normal field and out of your comfort zone," he said.
"It is good to be able to help people in need of assistance and to train other people to make sure we go out to do the best job we can."
The Bayswater unit provides everything from support during fire season and assistance in search and rescue, to clearing trees fallen trees and storm damage.
One incident that stands out in Sean's mind is the Dianella tornado in 2012. "That did a lot of damage to houses," he said.
In his current role, he arranges, attends and supports new members in exercises to improve their navigation skills. He also organises and attends community awareness events, and uses his background in graphic design to print everything from participant resources to advertisements for sausage sizzles.
He has also spent the past two years researching and negotiating with fleet services over the unit's replacement flatbed truck.
Sean is modest about his nomination. "I try to ignore it and hope it will go away," he joked.
Voted for online by fellow citizens, the Spirit of Volunteering award is presented in celebration of an "unsung hero" who has enhanced the lives of others and the community. The winning volunteer can elect a not-for-profit organisation to receive a donation of $1000.
WA measures up well
National Volunteer Week, with the theme Give a Little Change a Lot, will be celebrated from May 21-27.
WA enjoys one of the highest volunteering participation rates in Australia (19 per cent), with four out of five of those volunteers giving an average of almost 16 hours a month, or 190 hours per year.
Treated as a sector in its own right, volunteering is WA's largest industry by employment and has a social, economic and cultural value of $39 billion.
Volunteering WA represents 600,000 volunteers and almost 700 volunteer-involving organisations.
