Fireground Safety for Company Officers

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Fireground Safety for Company Officers

• Basic Concepts for Company Officers

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Fireground Safety Officer Responsibilities

• Main function is to protect firefighters
• Anticipate what could happen well before it does
• Work within the Incident Command System
• Duties must be performed with or without the
  safety officer being present at scene
• You may be assigned this function

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Firefighter Injuries by Type of Duty 1997
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Total Injuries by Year
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Firefighter Fatalities 1979-1997
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Fire Department Safety Manager

• Duties
• Occupational Health
• Safety in workplace
• Safety in training
• Records management
• Policy and procedure development

Safety
Manager
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Fire Department Safety Manager

• Programs
• Dept. Safety Officer
• Safety Committees
• Accident/Injury review
• Physical Fitness
• Research
• Safety monitoring
• CISD
• Rehabilitation

Safety
Manager
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Fireground Safety Officer (Sector)
Stay outside the collapse zone!

• Sector Officer Duties
• Time Keeping
• Personnel Count
• Building Survey
• Operations
• Accident/Injury Investigation

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NFPA 1500 Standard

• Fire Department Occupational Health and Safety
  Standard
• All encompassing
• References 31 publications
• NFPA 1561
• Created the NFPA 1521 Safety Officer Standard

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NFPA 1521 Fire Department Safety Officer Standard
(1997)

• The Fire Chief shall have the ultimate
  responsibility for the fire dept. occupational
  health and safety program as specified in 1500.
• Shall have a designated health and safety officer
  (2-1.3)
• Alternate personnel shall be assigned in absence
  of HSO (2-1.3.2)

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NFPA 1521 Safety Officer Standard

• Chapter 1
• Administration
• scope minimum requirements
• purpose meet intent of 1500
• equivalency level of qualifications
• definitions common terminology

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NFPA 1521 Safety Officer Standard

• Chapter 2
• Organization
• Assignment
• Qualifications
• Authority

Designated HSO
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NFPA 1521 Safety Officer Standard

• Chapter 3
• Functions
• Records Data
• Liaison
• Rules and Regs.
• Accident Prevention
• Apparatus equip.
• Accident Investigation
• Incident Scene Safety
• Training and Education

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Qualifications of the Incident Safety Officer
(ISO)

• Minimum of Fire Officer I
• Knowledge and ability to manage incident scene
  safety
• Training, experience, and knowledge are
  qualifiers for this position
• Must have knowledge of building construction
• Knowledge of Accountability system used
• Rehab operations

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NFPA 1521 Safety Officer Standard

• Chapter 4
• References
• 1002 Driver
• 1021 Fire Officer
• 1403 Live Fire Training
• 1500 Safety and Health
• 1561 ICS
• 1582 Infection Control

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Prerequisite Knowledge

• What should the safety officer know?
• Building construction
• Structural Collapse Awareness Course
• EMS background
• Rehab profiles
• Accountability systems
• ICS
• Liaison Techniques

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Building Construction

• On the Fireground
• Building construction
• EMS background
• Rehab profiles
• Accountability systems
• ICS
• Liaison Techniques

• Building Construction
• structural collapse signs / indicators
• Truss construction
• Live / dead loads
• Impact of fire tactics on structures
• GPMs
• Ventilation

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EMS Background

• What should the safety officer know?
• Building construction
• EMS background
• Rehab profiles
• Accountability systems
• ICS
• Liaison Techniques

• EMS Background
• Fatigue
• Stress
• Heat exhaustion
• Frostbite
• Dehydration
• Triage
• Needs of EMS crews

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Rehab Profiles

• What should the safety officer know?
• Building construction
• EMS background
• Rehab profiles
• Accountability systems
• ICS
• Liaison Techniques

• Rehab Profiles
• Rotation indicators
• 2 bottle rule
• Duties of rehab crews
• Impact on operations
• crew depletion
• Rest
• Hydration
• Medical Monitoring

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Accountability Systems

• Accountability Systems
• Passport or other
• In use by all members
• Crews accountability to each other is essential
• Best use on fireground comes from use in training
• Movement between sectors

• What should the safety officer know?
• Building construction
• EMS background
• Rehab profiles
• Accountability systems
• ICS
• Liaison Techniques

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Incident Command System

• What should the safety officer know?
• Building construction
• EMS background
• Rehab profiles
• Accountability systems
• ICS
• Liaison Techniques

• Incident Command System
• Safety Officer is part of Command Staff
• Sector
• Consult / advise Command of actions
• Participate in planning process

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Liaison Techniques

• What should the safety officer know?
• Building construction
• EMS background
• Rehab profiles
• Accountability systems
• ICS
• Liaison Techniques

• Liaison Techniques
• Understanding of outside agency participation in
  incident
• excavators
• utilities
• Oversight of mutual aid companies
• conflicting values?

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Incident Safety Officer

• Dispatch of ISO
• Report of Fire (Company Officers)
• Working Fires
• HazMat/Special Operations
• Mass Casualty
• Report of Injured or Trapped Firefighters

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Arrival On Scene

• Don full protective clothing
• Same levels of protection as crews operating
• Report to IC for briefing
• Review action plan
• Accountability in use
• RIT in place

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Major Areas of Responsibility

• Identify unsafe conditions, operations, or
  hazards that pose risk to firefighters
• Once identified the Safety Officer must
• Immediately alter, suspend or terminate
  activities that are IMMINENT HAZARDS
• Through command, alter conditions or activities
  that are NOT imminent

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Authority of the Incident Safety Officer

• Complete authority to alter, suspend or terminate
  those activities judged to be unsafe of involving
  imminent hazard.

Review Division 10 and Department Policy
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Classic Risk Management Plan

• Risk a lot within a calculated plan to save a lot
• Risk a little within a calculated plan to save a
  little
• Risk nothing to save nothing

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Ongoing Responsibilities

• Firefighters continue to work within the risk
  management plan
• Incident Commander has established rehab
• Continuously monitor the fireground conditions
• Ensure that accountability system is used
• Collapse and Hot Zones are established and
  communicated

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Ongoing Responsibilities

• Evaluate motor vehicle scene traffic hazards and
  vehicle placement
• Monitor radio traffic
• Evaluate the need and request assignment of
  assistant safety officers

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Specific Incidents - Structural

• Rapid Intervention Team in place
• Evaluation of collapse potential and
  establishment of ZONES
• Evaluate smoke conditions for potential
  deterioration of situations
• Monitor access and egress points

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Specific Incidents - EMS Operations

• Infection control practices
• Incident Scene rehabilitation
• Critical Incident Stress management
• Traffic Safety
• Accountability

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Specific Incidents - HazMat

• Overall safety
• HazMat safety officer assigned at operational
  level
• Work with HazMat safety officer to coordinate
  events
• Ensure that Hot, Warm and Cold Zones are
  established and marked
• Participate in planning session with IC

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Specific Incidents - Special Operations

• Similar to HazMat
• Training should be equivalent to duties of
  special operations members
• May serve as plan review position working with
  special operations member

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Division 10 Checklist
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Fireground Safety Officer (Sector)

• Sector Officer
• Time Keeping
• Personnel Count
• Building Survey
• Operations
• Accident/Injury Investigation

• Time Keeping
• Time of call
• First entry by crews
• Duration of interior attack
• Any significant events
• flashover
• ventilation
• rescue

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Fireground Safety Officer (Sector)

• Sector Officer
• Time Keeping
• Personnel Count
• Building Survey
• Operations
• Accident/Injury Investigation

• Personnel Count
• Interior crews
• Where assigned
• Teams established
• Accountability system in place and in use

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Fireground Safety Officer (Sector)

• Sector Officer
• Time Keeping
• Personnel Count
• Building Survey
• Operations
• Accident/Injury Investigation

• Building Survey
• How long burning
• Determined fire location
• Integrity of roof/walls/ floors
• Attention to Truss
• Minimize exposure under/over large spans
• Utilities OFF
• Survey overhead hazards

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Fireground Safety OfficerFireground Operations

• Operations
• Adequate flow/ GPMs
• Secondary escapes
• Attention to ladder work
• Observe collapse danger zones
• Smoke volume, color, force
• Fall hazards

• Operations (cont)
• Air monitoring
• Observe rehab profiles
• Additional hazards
• traffic
• heat / cold
• passive smoke in operations area

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Fireground Safety Officer (Sector)

• Sector Officer
• Time Keeping
• Personnel Count
• Building Survey
• Operations
• Accident/Injury Investigation

• Accident / Injury Investigation
• Injured to hospital
• Retain all equipment
• Order blood / urine tests
• Respond to hospital for interviews
• Follow-up reporting after incident

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Fireground Safety OfficerPost-Incident
Responsibilities

• Before leaving scene
• Secure scene
• CISD indicators?
• Legal considerations
• Brief Command on incident observations

• Within 24 hours
• Develop an incident review form and submit to
  Chief
• Participate in critique, CISD
• Participate in investigations of injuries and
  fatalities

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Case History
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