It's the Work Health & Safety world we now live in. The guys at the top are now personally financially and legally exposed to work practices down through their organizations that have potential to put their employees at risk. They have a duty under the law to remove or minimise as far as practicable workplace risk. If they knowingly ignore identified risks, and someone gets hurt on the job, they could go to jail. For an occupation like Aviation Fire Fighting, where 99.9% of the time the exposure to risk is during practice (and thus can and should be controlled to a degree), it's understandable that they look to minimise it. You make a mistake and crash your aircraft during practice (in the sim) you say bugger and reset. You make a mistake in practice and fall off a 20m ladder, it's sayonara. If you can learn those same ladder skills on a 2m ladder, why would you expose your employees to the greater risk, and thus expose yourself to the legal ramifications of a forseeable and avoidable mishap? I'm not a great fan of the marshmallow OHS world we live in now, but unfortunately (or fortunately if it saves you or a loved one from injury or death) it is the world we are now all compelled to live in.