Download Fire Department Company Officer (3rd Edition)

Fire Department Company Officer (3rd Edition)
Chapter 22 - Firefighter Safety & Health
Test Review
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Most departmental safety programs, policies, and procedures are based on applicable laws and standards.
Laws are legislative mandates that restrict the conduct of all who are subject to them.
Standards are criterion documents that are developed to serve as models or examples of acceptable
performance or behaviors.
Standards are not legal mandates unless they are formally adopted by the jurisdiction having authority.
OSHA operates under the Department of Labor and furnishes employees a workplace free of recognized
hazards likely to cause injury/death and makes employers comply with OSHA standards.
Federal OSHA authority and regulations mainly apply to the private sector (general industry, construction,
etc.).
Exceptions to OSHA authority are self-employed persons, farmers, and those protected by federal statutes.
Federal OSHA authority and regulations do NOT cover employees of state and local governments, including
career and some volunteer firefighters.
OSHA inspections are prioritized based on worker fatalities, multiple hospitalizations, employee complaints,
and random inspections of high-hazard industries.
NFPA, ANSI, NIST, ASTM, and NIOSH, all develop and publish safety-related standards.
Departmental safety and health programs should begin with a declaration of policy from the highest ranking
official within the department.
A department's infectious disease control program protects firefighter's health and protects the department
against related liability.
Infection control programs must have a written policy statement, and exposure control plan, infection control
SOPs, an information management system, and training/education program, a compliance/quality-monitoring
process, and program evaluation system.
OSHA regulations require employers, including emergency response agencies, to establish an exposure control
program.
Members must receive education on diseases, modes of transmission, and related topics.
Periodic review and updating of the infection control program is required by OSHA.
Communicable diseases may be transmitted by bloodborne and airborne pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria,
and other harmful organisms.
Airborne pathogens are spread when an infected patient breathes, coughs, or sneezes and tiny droplets are
sprayed into the air.
NFPA statistics show that the majority of firefighter injuries and the most serious injuries occur at emergency
scenes.
The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) is a source for fireground injury statistics.
To reduce injuries, officers can have a personal commitment to reducing injuries, require all firefighters to use
PPE, deliver effective training, follow all departmental safety/emergency SOPs, participate in physical
fitness/weight control programs, promote individual wellness, and conduct investigations into time-loss
injuries.
Anytime firefighters are in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, they are in a space that is immediately dangerous
to life and health (IDLH).
Anyone entering an IDLH atmosphere must wear appropriate respiratory protection.
Improper lifting and slip-and-fall accidents are the two most common accidents that result in injury.
Back strains are the most common injuries related to improper lifting techniques.
Back injuries have proven to be the most expensive, single type of accident in terms or workers' compensation.
Safe lifting requires the lifter to be as close to the object as possible with the back straight or slightly arched,
and using the legs to lift.
Ergonomics, also called "human engineering", is the process of designing the workplace to allow the worker to
perform efficiently and safely.
Slip, trip, and fall accidents generally are a result of poor footing and is caused by improper footwear, slippery
surfaces, objects on walking surfaces, inattention to footing on stairs, uneven surfaces, and similar hazards.
Non-skid strips/patches can be added to floors and stairs to reduce slip/fall accidents.
In psychology, good stress is called eustress and bad stress is called distress.
Current theory holds that most forms of acute stress do not cause permanent damage.
In Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome theory, the alarm reaction stage is the initial reaction to the stressor
resulting in a massive release of hormones, including adrenaline.
In Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome theory, the resistance stage (flight/fight response) prepares the body
to defend itself or remove itself from the stressor.
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In Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome theory, the exhaustion stage is when permanent damage as a result of
a stressor occurs.
Chronic stress is most associated with the exhaustion stage, and is linked to insomnia, heart disease, and
cancer.
Psychological stressors include sounds of alerting systems, interruption of meals/sleep, need for speed when
responding to alarms, and potential dangers at scenes.
Psychological stressors not specific to the firefighting profession include poor working relationships, poor
work atmosphere, lack of promotions, lack of support/recognition by supervisors, and difficult work roles.
Programs designed to reduce the risk of heart disease include annual medical checkups, fitness evaluations,
weight-control programs, no-smoking regulations, and prescribed blood-pressure medications.
Noticeable signs of dangerous levels of stress include general irritability, emotional instability, inability to
concentrate, fatigue, insomnia, loss of appetite, and alcohol/drug use.
Common methods of stress reduction include adequate rest, regular exercise, balanced diet, taking vacations,
"quiet time", laughing, and relaxing or slowing down.
Critical incident stress occurs as a result of a particularly traumatic or disturbing incident.
Examples of critical incident stress causes include multiple casualties, gruesome injuries, firefighter
deaths/injuries, death of rescue victim, and fatalities occurring even despite extraordinary efforts.
Symptoms of critical incident stress include denial of situation, anger, doubts about performance, anxiety,
frustration, and sense of hopelessness.
Delayed symptoms of critical incident stress include guilt, restlessness, irritability, drug/alcohol use, sleep
problems, flashbacks of incident, and decreased appetite.
An informal discussion, sometimes called a defusing, is usually all that is necessary after most emergency calls
to alleviate critical incident stress.
After particularly stressful incidents, officers may place the company out of service temporarily to conduct a
critical incident stress debriefing (CISD).
When critical incident stress remains untreated, it can lead to a serious condition called post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD).
Most medical insurance policies and employee assistance programs will pay for alcohol/drug abuse treatment
programs.
Accidents occurring as a result of a sequence of events is sometimes called the domino effect.
When an accident occurs, the "root cause" should be determined.
Reasons for investigating workplace accidents include identifying behavior/condition that caused the accident,
previously unrecognized hazards, additional training needs, improvements in safety policy/procedures, and
facts that could have a legal impact on an accident case, in addition to PSOB death benefit eligibility.
Human factors are an individual's attributes or personal characteristics that cause this individual to be in more
or fewer accidents than others.
In most cases, negative human factors can be mitigated by motivation, training, or technical revision.
Human factors can be categorized as improper attitude (recklessness, laziness), lack of knowledge/skill (poor
training, inexperience), or physically unsuited (weight/height).
Questions to ask when analyzing accident/injury reports are: Who was involved?, What was involved?, What
were the circumstances?, and What was the root cause?.
Not every safety problem can be solved by spending more money.
Wellness programs are designed to maintain the occupational health of a fire department's personnel and
should include a means of monitoring results.
Wellness program monitoring should include results of medical exams and physical fitness tests, occupational
illnesses/injuries, and HazMat and communicable disease exposures,
Medical programs are designed to determine whether a firefighter can physically perform duties.
A department's physical fitness program should be administered by the department's physician.
Member assistance programs, also known as employee assistance programs (EAP), assist members with
problems resulting from stress, substance abuse, and personal matters (i.e.-no- or low-cost counseling)