Fire and emergency services safety officer chapter 13. Fire Service Risk Management

• Risk management principles are vital for the operational safety of fire and emergency services.
• These principles involve identifying risks and creating plans to limit responder exposure, ensuring safety is the top priority in inherently risky situations.

Key Safety Practices

• Hierarchy of controls

• Incident Management Systems (IMS)

• Incident Action Plans (IAPs) and SOP/Gs

• Personnel accountability systems

• Appropriate protective clothing and equipment, including respiratory protection

• Effective emergency communications

• Hazards communicated to all responders at the scene

• Rapid intervention crews (RIC) in place

• Decontamination at all incidents

• Rehabilitation at all incidents

• These practices improve workplace safety by addressing task and incident risk management.

• All members of the emergency services organization must utilize safety practices at all times.

• The ISO is the last line of defense against injuries and fatalities.

• Safety practices should have top management support and must be implemented by everyone.

• All safety actions should create defensive layers that prevent actions that could lead to a bad outcome.

Hierarchy of Controls (Most to Least Effective)

• Elimination
• Substitution
• Engineering controls
• Administrative controls
• Personal protective clothing and equipment
• Engineering controls create a separation between responders and hazards.
• Per NFPA® 1026, the hierarchy of controls is requisite knowledge for the ISO regarding the evaluation of incident safety practices.

Incident Management System (IMS)

• An IMS is a overall strategy for achieving a coordinated incident management outcome.
• The components of incident management encompass preparedness, communications, resource management, command and management, and ongoing management/maintenance.
• The ICS is the operational element within the IMS that maintains control and promotes coordinated efforts toward common goals.

Incident Action Plan (IAP)

• All incidents should have an IAP.
• Written IAPs are required for incidents with multiple operational periods or those involving hazardous materials; smaller incidents may use verbal IAPs.
• Priorities for Incident Action Plans include personnel safety, rescuing occupants, eliminating hazards, conducting loss control, and protecting the environment.
• All incident personnel must function within the IAP.

Personnel Accountability System

• Each organization needs a system to identify and track all personnel at an incident.
• The system must account for those individuals who respond to the scene in vehicles other than emergency response apparatus
• The system should standardize the system so that it is used at every incident.
• All personnel must be trained on the system.
• Tactical-level unit supervisors are responsible for keeping track of the members of their unit.
• The system should indicate individuals assigned, names of individual responders, arrival time, assigned duty, and release time.
• The ISO is responsible for ensuring that the system is in place and that all members are in compliance.

Protective Clothing and Equipment

• Correct and conscientious wearing of protective gear reduces the chances of serious outcomes.
• Departments must enforce SOP/Gs requiring appropriate protective gear and respiratory protection, especially during overhaul.
• It's important to adopt SOP/Gs requiring the use of appropriate protective clothing and equipment and respiratory protection during overhaul.

Air Monitoring Research

• Research has established that testing only for CO is not an adequate test to declare a site safe for work without respiratory protection.
• Personnel working at a scene from overhaul through investigation need to wear respiratory equipment and the testing should cover as wide a range of airborne contaminants as possible.

Effective Communications

• The ISO requires good interpersonal skills to communicate effectively with the IC and other responders.
• When possible, face-to-face communication is preferable.
• The ISO must advise the IC of any communications problems at the scene.
• Common barriers to communications include distance, physical barriers, interference, ambient noise, overloaded systems, and task saturation.

Reporting Hazards

• All responders should be empowered to immediately communicate safety hazards.
• The ISO must immediately communicate safety hazards to IC.
• If a life-threatening hazard is present, the ISO must stop the activity or direct firefighters to work around the hazard.

Rapid Intervention Crews (RIC)

• NFPA® 1500 and OSHA regulations mandate a rapid intervention crew whenever firefighters are in the hazard zone inside a burning building.
• It may take up to eleven firefighters entering a structure to find and retrieve a downed firefighter within an acceptable amount of time.
• For large structures, it is recommended not to commit firefighters to interior attack unless there are at least a dozen firefighters outside who can conduct a search, if necessary.

Decontamination

• Decontamination includes rinsing protective clothing, doffing equipment after overhaul, removing clothing completely before leaving the scene, and cleaning exposed skin.
• The ISO must ensure decontamination resources are readily available.

Rehabilitation

• Rehabilitation areas provide a space for responders to rest, rehydrate, take nourishment, and receive medical monitoring.
• Rehabilitation is not just a site, however, it is also the awareness of the need for rehab that is the responsibility of all operational personnel.
• Supervisors must monitor the physical condition of their subordinates and send them to rehab before they become too fatigued.
• One rule is to send personnel to rehab when they have used two 30-minute air bottles or one 60-minutes air bottle.

ISO Risk Management Assessment

• ISOs should utilize a recognized risk management framework during an incident assessment.
• ISOs must be experienced and trained to quickly identify and stop safety-related issues, maintaining a big picture view of the incident.

Rules of Engagement

• Developed by the IAFC in 2001, it includes ten rules to help ensure firefighter safety, emphasizing risk assessment and unacceptable risks.
• The ISO should be familiar with all risk assesment methods and apply the concept that best fits the situation.

The 10 Rules of Engagement for Structural Fire Fighting cover:

• Acceptability of Risk
• Risk Assessment

NFPA® Rules of Engagement

• Risk lives a lot, in a calculated manner, to save SAVABLE LIVES.
• Risk lives a LITTLE, in a calculated manner, to save SAVABLE property.
• WILL NOT risk lives at all for a building or lives that are already lost.

Risk Management Criteria Considerations

• Incident hazards
• Imminent hazards
• Laws, codes, regulations, or standards
• Facility operations
• Building construction
• Fire dynamics and smoke characteristics
• Hazardous energy sources
• Traffic hazards
• Limited personnel
• Inadequately trained personnel

Safety and Health Equipment and Technology

• ISOs must know the equipment in their department and their proper use in differing situations.
• Fireground Operational Safety Equipment

Fire Protective Clothing

• Provides a durable outer shell and layers for thermal and vapor protection.
• The ISO must recognize the potential for abrasion and struck-by injuries and contamination and ensure personnel are properly protected.

Breathing Apparatus

• The point of no return is the point at which air in the SCBA will last only long enough to exit a hazardous atmosphere.
• At structure fires or hazardous vapor leaks, the IC must evaluate the size and complexity of the stucture's interior to determine the amount of time required to exit the structure from the point of no return.

Thermal Imagers

• Quickly becoming a priority safety tool in all aspects of emergency operations.
• They can be used to locate hidden fires.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

• GPS mounted on the SCBA or carried by a firefighter provides accurate information to the IC to monitor the location and movement of a firefighter or a team of firefighters.

Accountability Devices

• Common systems include the tag system, SCBA system, and barcode readers.
• Electronic systems are also being used to track individuals remotely

Common Tools

• The ISO must also monitor what tools firefighters are using and if they are being carried and used properly.
• The ISO should evaluate the use of fire hoses, ground ladders, aerial ladders, cutting tools, ventilation fans

Monitoring Equipment

• Multigas detectors should be used to detect the presence of toxic gases after all structure fires.

Hazardous Materials Operations Safety Equipment

• Early detection in the incident size-up is critical to safe and appropriate strategic and tactical decisions.
• OSHA categorizes protective clothing and equipment as Levels A, B, C, and D.
• The NFPA® classification system (Class 1-4) is different but comparable to OSHA.

Protection Levels:

• Level A
• Level B
• Level C
• Level D

Chemical Protective Clothing (CPC)

• Required when skin and respiratory system protection is needed at the highest level.
• Selection depends on the specific chemical and the specific tasks that the wearer intends to perform.

Biological Protective Clothing

• Use of biological agents in terrorist attacks is the primary consideration with exposure potential.
• Selection must meet the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120, Appendix B regulation.

Radiological Protection Considerations

• Alpha(ά)particles
• Beta (β) particles
• Gamma (γ) rays
• X-rays (X)

Air Monitoring Technology

• OSHA requires air monitoring at hazardous materials incidents before personnel are permitted into a hazard zone.
• Radiological monitoring can be done with a hand-held monitor or by personnel wearing a detection tag or badge.
• The equipment must be calibrated to ensure accurate readings on an incident.

Technical Rescue Safety Equipment

• Includes rope operations, structural collapse, confined space, vehicle, water, wilderness, trench, machinery, cave, mine, tower, and animal rescues.
• Confined Space Safety

Rigging and Hoisting Tools and Procedures

• Prior to any rescue operation commencing, a TSO should check the haul system(s) to ensure proper set up.
• The ISO should monitor for proper procedural compliance and recommend corrective action to the IC when needed.

Excavation and Construction Equipment

• When conducting a rescue that requires excavation, rescue personnel and ISO must ensure compliance with NFPA® standards or OSHA regulations.

Cribbing and Shoring Equipment

• Almost all rescue operations require the use of cribbing and shoring to stabilize heavy objects.
• The TSO will be responsible for ensuring stabilization safety in conjunction with the ISO.

Cutting and Extrication Equipment

• The ISO should have a general understanding of cutting and extrication equipment safety.

Water Rescue Equipment

• Protective clothing and equipment used for water-based rescues must conform to the standards identified in NFPA® 1952 or AHJ requirements.

Long Work Shifts

• Forecasting resource needs along with changes in incident scope will help define needed work shifts.
• The IC, ISO, and planning staff should look for ways to reduce worker fatigue.

Techniques to Reduce Worker Fatigue

• Limit work shifts depending on conditions
• Alternate assignments
• Rehabilitation
• Day/Night shift rotations
• Research guiding these decisions is ongoing.

Hearing Protection

• Policies should be established that require the use of hearing protection when operating equipment or riding on apparatus.
• The ISO should monitor the use of hearing protection during operations to ensure personnel are properly protected.

Heat and Cold Stress Safety

• The ISO should be cognizant of the effects of weather on personnel.
• The ISO is responsible for ensuring that the IC has established rehabilitation at an appropriate location.

Visibility

• The lack of visibility and other protective measures can lead to firefighters being struck by motor vehicles while working on or near roadways. The ISO is responsible for monitoring this compliance and recommending improvements as necessary.

Traffic-related injuries and fatalities

• Fire and emergency service responders must ensure the establishment of a vehicle work safety zone for any incident on, or adjacent to, a roadway.

Rescue Clothing/Applicable Protective Clothing and Equipment for Extrication and Fire Suppression

• Each emergency scene where extrication and fire suppression activities occur must be assessed for appropriate protective clothing and equipment selection and use.
• If not, the ISO should make a note and follow up after the incident to recommend repair or replacement of protective clothing and equipment.

Temporary Traffic Control Devices

• The MUTCD and NFPA® provide requirements for temporary traffic control devices: traffic signs, cones, flags, and lighting used at traffic incidents.

Patient Protection

• Patients being treated on backboards or gurneys are vulnerable and must be protected.
• Patients being loaded into ambulances should never be exposed to vehicular traffic from the rear

Common Incident Protocols and Procedures

• Provide a framework for managing the incident in a consistent manner that all personnel are familiar with.

Incident Command Structure (ICS)

• The IC has overall responsibility for all incident operations, including the expansion or reduction of the ICS.

Role of the Incident Commander (IC)

• The IC uses the ICS to manage the incident, ensure the safety of all personnel, account for all personnel present and their location, and delegate assignments as needed.

Incident Command Post (ICP)

• Personnel at the command post should be limited to the command and general staff officers.

Role of the ISO

• The ISO evaluates and suggests effective safety enhancements that provide a successful outcome of the incident while ensuring the safety of the members operating at the incident.
• All other suggestions on operations must be communicated to the IC.
• Other duties of the ISO, as outlined in NFPA® 1521, include ensuring rehabilitation, monitoring conditions, ensuring accountability, ensuring understanding of the IAP, providing risk assessment, ensuring treatment/transport of injured members, suggesting safety/hazard zones, evaluating traffic hazards, monitoring radio communications, identifying the need for AISOs, and evaluating helicopter landing hazards.
• The ISO must be able to move freely around the incident scene and monitor operations to ensure the safety of all personnel

Incident Management System (IMS)

• Fire departments throughout North America have a variety of protocols for transmitting a radio signal for an emergency during an incident.
• Both ICS 100-400 level training and FEMA Independent Study courses are recommended for emergency responders.

Two Radio Protocol Categories:

• MAYDAY protocol
• Emergency Traffic protocol

Recognized Personnel Accountability Protocols

• All personnel assigned at an incident or training exercise must be accounted for.The ISO must ensure the accountability system is used on every incident and that it accurately tracks all personnel.
• The ISO is the checks and balances to ensure personnel are following accepted safe practices.