Ch 20 Safety and Occupational Health Flashcards
Concerning control measures, these consist of standard operating guidelines/procedures, training requirements, safe practices, rules and regulations, fire compliance, inspections, industry standards, and best practices
Administrative Controls
Concerning control measures these are what is needed to reduce risk and increase safety - for example apparatus, design, building construction (codes), thermal imaging and active and passive fire protection systems
Engineering controls
Concerning control measures, these come in the form of personal protective equipment (PPE) and is what Firefighters more closely relate to
Personal protection controls
If _______ and ______ controls are in place the need for _____ lessens, and it is more or less a last resort
Administrative and engineering
Personal protection controls
____ are perhaps one of the more important, yet LEAST UNDERSTOOD, components of an occupational safety and health program
Risk management plans
This NFPA standard provides minimum criteria for developing, implementing, and evaluating a departments risk management plan
NFPA 1250 Recommended Practices in Emergency Services Organization Risk Management
Every department member should know and understand the safety culture and be held accountable for it. ______ is the key to the success of any program.
Accountability at all levels.
Three levels of control measures
- Administrative controls
- Engineering controls
- Personal protection controls (FF’s
most closely relate to)
AEP
ICs must realize that their overall strategy involves the ____of their firefighters at the same priority level as the _____ of their customers
Safety
The officer may choose to go offensive or defensive or may choose to pull a certain initial attack line. Entry is a large part of initial tactics. Entry depends on ____ (4)
- The amount of fire
- It’s location
- It’s possible path of travel
- If people are trapped in the building
5 steps in the classic Risk Management model:
1) Identify the risk
2) Evaluate the risk (frequency/
severity)
3) establish Priorities (ratings)
4) determine risk Control techniques
(ACT)
5) Monitor the program
IEPCM
You first consideration, when establishing priorities is to:
Look at the risk’s frequency/severity readings
(Difficult risks to prioritize: low/high and high/low)
Three risk control techniques (iepCm)
- Risk avoidance
- Risk control
- Risk transfer
Have to ACT to control risk
_____ % of fire service LODDs are from vehicle accidents
20-25 %
Approximately _____ % of LODDs occur on the fireground from incidents of trauma
25%
_____% of our service LODDs that have occurred over the past 30 years were due to stress, leading to cardiac event, strokes or similar causes
50%
Ways local governments can adopt NFPA standards? (3)
- objectives within a standard
- individual standard
- all of them at same time
Ways a fire service members can participate in the NFPA standard making process (3)
- Volunteer to serve on a technical committee
- Submit a proposal for a new project
- Participate in the final approval process
Firefighting is risky work, and firefighters are often thrust into high risk situations; however, having _____ and knowing ____ are critical to the longevity and survival of the American firefighter.
- A good risk management plan
- Where the lines may be drawn
Three-phase process to evaluate risk (firefighting)
- IDENTIFY what risks are inherent
- EVALUATE the risks in terms of how
often and how bad the
consequences could be - CONTROL the risks through a good
risk management program
IEC
ICs must realize that their overall strategy involves the safety of ____ at the same priority level as the safety of _____.
- their firefighters
- their customers
This NFPA standard requires the development of a separate risk management plan for a fire department
NFPA 1500
A risk can be defined as ____.
Any chance of loss occurring
When discussing Step 2 of the classic Risk Management model, “Evaluate the risk”, several factors are used to estimate severity and they are? CIT
- direct and indirect COSTS associated
with the loss - The IMPACT to the organization
- TIME and resources required to
rectify the loss to its former status
A large part of the job of the fire chief is to ensure that the people in the field doing the work have what they need to get the job done with ____ outcomes, with _____ injuries, and ____ line of duty deaths.
- Successful
- Limited
- Zero
It is interesting to note that the Firescope field operations guide of January 2001 notes the following as “common denominators” of fire behavior on tragedy fires.
- Most incidents happen on smaller
fires or on isolated portions of larger
fires - Most fires are innocent in
appearance before the flareups or
blowups - Flareups generally occur in
deceptively light fuels - Fire runs uphill surprisingly fast in
chimneys, gullies, and steep hills - Suppression tools, such as
helicopters or air tankers, can
adversely affect fire behavior
The keys to safe operations at technical rescues are what three things?
- Knowledge
- Skills
- Abilities
_____ who are trained and well-versed into rescue will make the best rescue branch Directors
Field operations personnel
Chief officers need to have a ____ of technical rescue in order to be effective incident commanders at incident such as these.
Working knowledge of concepts of operations
The only way to protect Firefighters on the roads, highways and byways is ____.
Convince them that the general traffic pattern is designed to kill them
From ESRI‘s sample SOGs and SOP’s for safe roadside operations, note the following basics that they offer for an on scene officer:
- Request additional police assistance
- Establish more than advance
warning. Remember that cones; they
don’t block - Consider a spotter upstream
- Use LADDER for upstream block on
highways; block additional lane,
block shoulder, 150 FEET upstream
and start cones.
Personnel must be reminded that protecting themselves from bodily fluids is as important as ____
- Blocking two lanes on a highway
- The only difference is that the impact
will be slower and take more time.
Often times, a new firefighter or the oldest officer is chosen for the Safety Officer. This is a mistake. It should be the ___ who has the ___ and who can ___on the fireground.
- The most knowledgeable seasoned person
- Most experience
- Act and react
NFPA 1561, the standard for ISO‘s, notes some key functions as follows:
- Has the authority to suspend alter or
terminate unsafe acts, or hazardous
activities - Must make the IC aware of needs
- Monitors the scene and reports
conditions and assessment to the IC - Must be aware of traffic zones,
collapse zones, access, and egress
In many instances, the Safety Officer also takes on the role of ______ as well. This can rarely work.
Accountability officer
At a minimum, one member of each team must have a radio. The obvious advantage of all members having communications is when a team member _______.
_____ on the scene of an emergency is critical to operational safety and lends itself to the very basic structure of command, control, coordination, and incident management.
- gets separated, or lost
- connecting all personnel
These two capabilities allows for the communication systems to work the way it was intended
- Numbers of channels
- Staffing
Managing a mayday or a firefighter rescue is different from other rescues because of the raw emotion of the onscene personnel. To this end, ______ (C.I.C) must learn how to manage this type of incident so it doesn’t escalate to a larger incident.
- Chiefs
- Incident commanders
- Company officers
Concerning saving our own, some say that our firefighters are becoming dependent on the system, knowing they going further and deeper, and perhaps getting in trouble because they know in the back of their mind that someone will come and get them. This is a ____ and ____ issue that needs to be addressed at the ____ level.
- management and training
- department
Things can go rapidly out of control when a mayday call is made. ____ along with ___ is of paramount importance when an incident such as this occurs.
- Command and control
- Fireground discipline
As the everyone goes home program launched in 2004, the goals of the program aligned with the goals of the US fire administration at the time:
- Reduce preventable firefighter fatalities by 25% in ___ years
- Reduce preventable firefighter fatalities by 50% in ___ years
- 25% - 5 years
- 50% - 10 years
For Courage to Be Safe/Everyone Goes Home, there is a chief self assessment, departmental assessment and then the next step is to _____.
- Evaluate the staff, officers, line officers and firefighters.
Once the staff officers, line officers, and firefighters have been evaluated in the assessment for Courage to Be Safe/Everyone Goes Home,
these individuals will then be the basis for a _____. Their first task will be to perform a ______ analysis or perhaps a ___ analysis is in order.
- Safety committee
- gap
- SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, Threats)
Over the past 25 years, statistics from the US Fire Administration report an average of ____ firefighters killed during training each year in the United States, and many more injured.
10
Firefighters have gotten seriously injured or killed at training doing things other than live burn evolutions. Some of these are apparatus and equipment, drills, physical, fitness activities, underwater, and dive training, or in classes and seminars. Every lesson plan needs to have a ____
Safety element in it
Comprehensive occupational safety health programs are used as a means to address the hazardous nature of the fire service. There are several factors that motivate or influence the development of such programs such as: (4)
- Chiefs believe that protecting their employees is simply the MORALLY right thing to do
- The potential for LEGAL issues to arise, such as negligence and liability
- FINANCIAL reasons have also motivated the development of occupational health and safety
programs (expensive) - REGULATIONS also drive safety programs
What are the steps taken when developing a department occupational safety and health program? (4) (CPIR)
1) detailed comparison between identified requirements and existing practices
2) prioritize those areas were compliance is required
3) implementation plan for noncompliance areas
4) reviewed and then approved or adopted
What are the two key elements in the development of an occupational safety and health program? (P’s)
- Preparation
- Planning
When administering an occupational safety and health program, although the fire chief bears the ultimate responsibility for the program, this person should be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the program?
Health and Safety Officer (HSO)
Who should actively assist the HSO with the day-to-day administration of the department’s occupational safety and health program?
Health and Safety Committee (HSC)
When determining specific components of an occupational safety and health program, the question “what does an occupational safety and health program look like” is not as important as what corresponding question?
“What should be included in the program?”
This individual is tasked with developing the fundamental groundwork of the fire department health and safety program, most of which would be based on NFPA 1500
Health and Safety Officer (HSO)
In essence, this person becomes the risk manager for the fire department. They look at emergency operations or the risks are how to manage the risks and use various tools to do so such as pre-plans SOP’s/SOG’s, the departments management plan and the training program
Health and Safety Officer (HSO)
Parameters of OSHA
- Carries weight of law
- 29 CFR 1901 and 1910
- OSHA regulations for private sector
employers - OSHA regulations apply to fire
departments were an employer-
employee relationship can be
established
The Occupational Safety and Health Act established two important agencies, which are?
- NIOSH
- OSHA
The mission of this agency is to generate new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health, and to transfer that knowledge into practice for the betterment of workers
NIOSH
(knowledge)
The mission of this agency is to prevent work related injuries, illnesses, and deaths
OSHA
The mission of this association is to reduce the burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life, accomplishing this mission through the development of codes and standards, research, and education
NFPA
Any existing national safety standard developed from a consensus system, such as the NFPA, can be introduced in court to establish what?
“Reasonable behavior”
Although anyone can volunteer to serve, NFPA regulations prevent any one special interest group from holding more than ____ of any committee member membership
1/3
This organization is the primary advocate for providing firefighters and paramedics with the tools they need to perform their jobs
IAFF
Opinions on firefighter safety vary throughout the fire; however, major national fire service organizations have all agreed that too many firefighters are still killed or injured every year. Training fire service veterans to improve their work performance will be difficult. As discussed here and in the fire service at large, ____ is the toughest task of all.
Changing the culture
It’s the ___ job to ensure that the crew is doing everything they can to bring all members home after every call and ___ is key.
- Fire Chief
- Setting the example
What are the main preventable causes of fire service line of duty deaths over the past 30 years? (4)
- Heart attacks
- Strokes
- Vehicle accident
- Trauma
The real issue of health and safety is that it has to be a total package of culture change, starting with what?
Organizational values and beliefs
Every department member should know and understand the safety culture and be held accountable for it. Accountability at all levels is the ____?
Key to the success of any program
The decisions made on arrival are key to successful outcomes. It has been said that the first ____ determine the next five hours at a fire
Five minutes
What does NIOSH continue to cite as a contributing factor in traumatic fire ground line of duty deaths?
Lack of command and control
The fire chief needs to keep up on technology, know what the new tools look like, go to school, and discuss things with personnel but ____
Keep his or her hands off the line
For a chief to effectively manage the courage to be safe/everyone goes home program, two things are required
- Self-assessment
- Departmental assessment
