Chapter 1

Introduction to the Safety Officer Role

Objectives

• Describe the emergence of the safety officer role in fire departments

• Discuss the history of the fire department safety officer

Objectives (con’t.)

• List the National Fire Protection Association Standards (NFPA) standards that affect and pertain to the incident safety officer

• Explain the need for an incident safety officer in empirical and image terms

The Safety Officer: An Introduction

• Safety officer: NIMS definition– Member of command staff– Monitors and assesses safety hazards or

unsafe situations– Develops measures for ensuring personnel

safety

The Safety Officer: An Introduction (con't.)

• NIMS (National Incident Management System)– Developed through Homeland Presidential

Directive 5– Mandates a consistent nationwide approach to

prepare, respond, and recover from domestic incidents regardless of cause, size, or complexity

The Safety Officer: An Introduction (con't.)

• Safety officer: NFPA definition– Splits role of safety officer for greater specificity– ISO (incident safety officer)

• Safety officer command role as defined by NIMS

– HSO (health and safety officer)• Manager of the fire department’s safety and health

program• Assigned and authorized by the fire chief

The Safety Officer: An Introduction (con't.)

• NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency)– For-profit association– Develops consensus standards, guides, and

codes for fire-related topics– Defined roles of ISO and HSO in NFPA 1521

standard• HSO/ISO division proposed by FDSOA

Figure 1-1 An effective ISO can reduce the chance of firefighter injury or death.

Figure 1-2 HSO and ISO functions.

History

• Late 1800s – early 1900s– Catastrophes led to the appointment of safety

officers in fire service for risk management• Collapse of Jennings building in 1854• Railroad car fire in Colorado Springs in 1898

– “Wall watchers”: stood at corners of buildings and watched for signs of building collapse during a working fire

Figure 1-3 A late 1880s fire officer – the first safety officer – shouts collapse warnings.

History (con't.)

• Industrial revolution and World War I– Need for safety officer increased for fire

departments and general manufacturing– Soldiers became mechanized

• World War II– Significant injury in support as well as combat

roles– Safety officer role became formalized

History (con't.)

• Factory inspections, posters and briefings– Result of females in the workplace, insurance

industry, and organized labor

• William Stieger Act of 1970– Occupational Safety and Health Act

• Equal rights for employers and employees with respect to safe working conditions

– Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Fire Department Safety Office Trends

• FIRESCOPE program (1970s)– Used for multiagency incidents on the West

Coast– Recommended a safety officer or safety sector

• IFSTA Incident Command System manual (1983)– Safety officer position integral to command

Fire Department Safety Office Trends (con't.)

• NFPA 1500 adopted (1987)– Roots of risk management– Slow to catch on – Led to integration of safety officer role in fire

department culture – Primarily addresses HSO role

Fire Department Safety Office Trends (con't.)

• NFPA 1501– Addresses authority, qualifications, and

responsibilities of safety officer– Changed to NFPA 1521

• NIIMS (National Interagency Incident Management System) – Direct descendant of FIRESCOPE program

• NFPA 1521 leading the way in evolution of safety officer role

The Need for an Incident Safety Officer

• Role of safety officer based on a simple premise:– We (in the fire department) have not done a

good job of taking care of our own people

• Better equipment and fewer fires have not led to fewer firefighter injuries or deaths

Empirical Study

• Death and injury statistics– Do not include 9/11 deaths – About 100 firefighters die each year in line of

duty– Rate of injuries per 10,000 fires fought has

increased

• Use of an ISO can reduce potential threat to firefighters today

Figure 1-5 An average of 104 firefighters have died in the line of duty in the past ten years. (Source: United States Fire Administration.)

Empirical Study (con't.)

• Worker’s compensation– Statutory for each state– Rates set by NCCI and may be adjusted by

state for experience • NCCI rate * payroll * experience modifier

– Costly for fire department• Based on number and cost of claims• Can impact fire department employers and

employees for years

Image Study• Based on how the general public views

firefighters and how they view themselves– Injuries

• Stress in workplace: labor shifts and slowdowns • Concern, introspection, and trepidation after

accident

– Deaths• Private investigations, concern about liability,

demotions, suspensions, and terminations

– Both damage personal lives of firefighters

The Bottom Line• Fire departments must continue to improve

firefighter safety• An incident safety officer can make a

difference – right now• Goals of this book

– Share a systematic and meaningful approach to creating and implementing an ISO program

– Provide information to make sweeping changes in your department

Figure 1-6 The creation of an effective Incident Safety Officer program is the Incident Commander’s key to incident safety.

Summary• Safety officer

– Prevents injury and loss of life through risk management and hazard reduction

• Two specialties– HSO (administrative)– ISO (command staff)

• Strong need for ISOs on working incidents– Based on rising injury-death statistics and

associated costs