Chapter 1: The safety Officer Role

Firefighter Injury and Fatality Statistics

• In 2019, there were 48 on-duty firefighter fatalities in the U.S. (NFPA) and 58 on-duty firefighter fatalities in the U.S. (USFA)
• On average, 108 firefighters die in the line of duty each year (1997-2017), not including the 343 FDNY firefighters who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers on September 11
• The NFPA reports annually on firefighter injuries, with a 5% margin of error

Firefighter Injuries

• The number of injuries on the fireground has been declining, but not as fast as the decline in the number of fires
• Strains, sprains, and muscle pain are the most common injuries for all fire service activities
• Considering only fireground injuries, strains and sprains are still the most common injury type, followed by thermal burns
• Trends in Firefighter Injuries:
  • Overall number: Slow and steady decline to an estimated 58,835 per year
  • Nonincident related: Declining
  • Apparatus related: Declining
  • Fire ground related: Wavering
  • Leading type: Strain, sprain, or muscle pain

Importance of Safety Officer (ISO)

• ISO can reduce injury and death potential on the fireground
• ISO can change a situation that "could have" led to an injury
• The use of an ISO can start to reduce threats to firefighters immediately

Workers' Compensation

• Empirical effects of firefighter death and injury should consider the effects of work-related injuries on the firefighters' worker compensation
• Note: The exact number of firefighter injuries and deaths prevented by the action of a safety officer is not known, but many believe that ISOs have changed situations that could have led to injuries

Role of Incident Safety Officer (ISO)

• The ISO is a member of the command staff and is responsible for:
  • Monitoring incident conditions and activities
  • Evaluating hazards and unsafe conditions
  • Developing measures that promote safe incident handling
  • Intervening when an immediate or potential threat exists
  • Communicating urgent and advisory safety messages

NIMS and Safety Officer Role

• The National Incident Management System (NIMS) still uses the generic title of safety officer for NIMS compliance texts and documents
• NIMS defines safety officer as a member of Command Staff responsible for monitoring and assessing safety hazards or unsafe situations and for developing measures for ensuring personal safety

NFPA Standards for Safety Officers

• The duties and responsibilities of the HSO and ISO have been relocated from the 1521 standard and placed in NFPA 1500 and 1561 standards, respectively

• NFPA 1521 is now written as a professional qualifications document using the job performance requirement (JPR) format

• NFPA 1500: HSO requirements, duties, and responsibilities

• NFPA 1561: SO requirements, duties, and responsibilities

• NFPA 1521: HSO qualifications

• NFPA 1521: ISO qualifications for fire department ISOs

• NFPA 1026: SO qualifications for NIMS safety officers### Key Action Verbs for ISO Monitor

• Actively survey the incident environment and watch incident activities

• Evaluate: Assess the environment and activities and judge whether a hazard exists

• Develop: Design and create preventive measures that will minimize the chance of harm

• Intervene: Take deliberate actions to prevent harm from imminent and potential hazards

• Communicate: Deliver urgent and advisory messages using multiple communication methods

Firefighter Injuries and Deaths

• Approximately 58,835 firefighter injuries occur per year
• A gradual decline in firefighter injuries has been observed
• Fire ground-related injuries have not declined
• Firefighter injuries and deaths have a serious impact on the workplace, affecting stress, workplace activities, investigations, public perceptions, and family lives

ISO Responsibilities

• Monitoring the incident environment and activities
• Evaluating current and potential hazards from a risk-versus-gain perspective
• Developing preventive measures for forecasted hazards
• Intervening when immediate or potential threats exist
• Communicating urgent and advisory safety messages

Key Terms

• Health and Safety Officer (HSO): the individual assigned and authorized by the fire chief as the manager of the health and safety program
• Incident Safety Officer (ISO): a member of the command staff responsible for monitoring and assessing safety hazards or unsafe situations and for developing measures to ensure personnel safety
• National Incident Management System (NIMS): an incident response system developed by the Department of Homeland Security
• National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS): an incident response system developed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): a mental health disorder that can develop in individuals who have experienced a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of harm

Understanding the Roles of HSO and ISO

• The title "safety officer" in fire departments can refer to an individual in charge of the entire safety and health program or an officer delegated the safety officer task at an incident
• The Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) developed a class in 1991 that suggested splitting the safety officer role into HSO and ISO
• Small fire departments realized that one individual could not possibly fill both the HSO and ISO roles at the same time
• Large departments found that managing a significant occupational health and safety program required different knowledge and skills from those required of an ISO

NIMS and the Safety Officer Role

• NIMS defines safety officer as a member of Command Staff responsible for monitoring and assessing safety hazards or unsafe situations and for developing measures for ensuring personal safety
• The ISO title has returned to just safety officer (with the corresponding abbreviation SO) in the 2020 edition of NFPA 1561

History of Fire Department Safety Officers

• Safety officers have been present in the American work force for a long time, with some of the first safety officers coming from the fire service in the late 1800s and early 1900s
• The role of safety officers in the fire service became more formalized in the late 1800s and early 1900s in response to incidents such as the Jennings Building collapse in New York and a railroad car fire in Colorado Springs

NFPA Standards for Safety Officers

• NFPA 1500: HSO requirements, duties, and responsibilities
• NFPA 1561: SO requirements, duties, and responsibilities
• NFPA 1521: HSO qualifications
• NFPA 1521: ISO qualifications for fire department ISOs
• NFPA 1026: SO qualifications for NIMS safety officers

The Need for an Incident Safety Officer

• The role of a fire department ISO is based on the premise that the fire service has not done a good job of taking care of its own people
• The fire service has seen a decline in the number of structure fires, but the rate of fatalities and injuries associated with the fireground is not dramatically improving

Test your knowledge on firefighter injury and fatality statistics, including line-of-duty activities, incident response, training, and more. Learn about the reports by NFPA, USFA, and NIOSH on on-duty firefighter fatalities.