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Chapter 2 Firefighter Safety

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IntroductionFire service knows what injures and

kills firefighters.Firefighting profession carries

significant risk.RiskRisk managementFirefighter safety is grounded in

understanding risks and risk/benefit thinking.

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Safety IssuesUnderstand what events and

circumstances lead to injury or death.

Creation of standards, procedures, and initiatives

Efforts directly affect training and tactics.

Awareness of safety and injury-prevention habits helps the fire service address safety issues.

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Firefighter Injury and Death Trends70 percent of all duty deaths and

injuries in Canada and the United States occur during emergency activities.

Heart attacksFire-related causesUnderstanding historical data helps

reduce deaths and injuries.Firefighter deaths hover around

100 per year.

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Safety Standards and RegulationsHealth and Safety Acts and

Regulations Firefighting fatalities and injuries

have not noticeably decreased.Workplace Safety and

Health/NFPA allianceNIOSH

Recommendations based on investigations of firefighter fatalities

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An example of a NIOSH Alert issued to address disturbing trends in firefighter injuries and deaths.

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Firefighter Safety InitiativesIn 2004, USFA and NFFF

developed 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives.

In 2005, organizations agreed that a collective time-out was needed.

In 2007, the Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives were revisited.

Time and more focused preventative energy

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Firefighter Safety Initiatives (cont.)

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Firefighter Safety Initiatives (cont.)Canadian Fallen Firefighters

Foundation partnered with the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation recognizes Canadian-made approach to safety issues.

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Canadian Firefighter Life SafetyCanada honours fallen

firefighters on an annual basis in Ottawa, Ontario at Parliament Hill.Pays tribute to the over 940

Canadian firefightersNames of firefighters added to the

honour roll

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Preventive ActionsGoal of exploring safety issues is

to reduce potential for injury and deaths.

Safety triadAll firefighters should be

empowered.Those whose actions are stopped

should view the intervention as positive.

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The safety triad includes (A) procedures, (B) equipment and (C) personnel. (Photo courtesy of Richard W. Davis)

(A) (B)

(C)

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Basic skills must be practiced on a regular basis.

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PersonnelCritical incident stress

management (CISM)Member assistance programs

(MAPs)

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Developing a positive safety attitude and practicing safe habits will demonstrate safe examples to others.

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Personnel (cont.)Attitude is the hardest to address.Factors affect safety attitudes:

Fire department’s safety cultureFire department’s historyExample set by others

Take steps to create a positive attitude.Practice good habits.Learn from others.Be vigilant.

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Firefighter Safety Responsibilities

Dependent on the efforts of everyone

Responsibility for firefighter safety rests in one of three areas:DepartmentWorking teamIndividual

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Firefighter safety is dependent on all partners holding up their responsibilities: (A) administration, (B) teams, and (C) individual firefighters.

(A) (B) (C)

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The Department Fire chiefs must create and enforce:

RulesProceduresExpectations

Health and safety committeeDevelop standard proceduresImplement risk management planResearch and purchase appropriate

equipmentAwareness training

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The TeamHolds up its part of the safety

partnershipUtilize ICS“Buddies”Look after each other

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The Individual FirefighterReadinessEach individual must fill a role. Perform as trained.FreelancingIncident engagement checklistUse safety when riding

apparatus.

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Freelancing endangers individuals and the team. This firefighter is working alone in a collapse zone—for what gain?

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Firefighters should perform a mental incident engagement checklist for every response.

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Lessons LearnedFirefighter safety dependent on many

factors70 percent of injuries and deaths in the

U.S. occur during emergency activities.Fire departments required to follow

Workplace Safety and Health Acts and Regulations in their province or territory.

Accident preventionSafety triad between administration,

working teams, firefighterIndividual safe habits and attitudes