NIOSH pledges improvements to firefighter fatality investigations

ATLANTA — The federal agency that investigates firefighter deaths has pledged to increase its analyses of information on fatalities.

In a report released Tuesday, NIOSH detailed a range of future directions for its Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program. It includes increasing routine and in-depth analyses of available data on firefighter deaths and injuries from organizations such as the U.S. Fire Administration, the NFPA, the National Fire Incident Reporting System, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

In February, it emerged that a safety expert’s warning on the reliability of PASS devices went unheeded by NIOSH for five years, during which time nine members died during instances where the alarms failed to work properly.

According to the report, analyses will improve knowledge of the risks firefighters take, including injury and illness, and indentify any needed improvements in surveillance data.

Other new measures include increasing the evaluation of fire behavior during fire incident investigations, investigating selected non-fatal cardiovascular incidents, and making recommendations more straightforward and practical.

National survey
Work on the report began last year, when NIOSH held a meeting of representatives from various fire organizations to seek their views and organized a national survey of more than 3,000 fire departments.

NIOSH added that the recent press coverage of the FFFIPP, such as the PASS issue, resulted in additional fire service input.

“A number of articles came out, some positive and some critical of the program,” said Dawn Castillo, head of the firefighter fatality investigation program at NIOSH. “Some of the comments we heard at the stakeholders’ meeting, but perhaps not as loudly.”

Castillo said NIOSH set up the consultation initiatives as it was vital to get fire organizations’ input on the program.

“Over the last few months, we have been reviewing the information we heard … to identify things we should be doing in order to meet our stakeholders’ needs and impact on fire safety,” she said. “There’s a lot of work and effort that needs to go into preventing firefighter deaths.”

‘Lack of funding’
Some critics claim the investigation team’s main problem was a lack of funding.

Castillo agreed that with more money, the group could carry out more investigations of fatalities.

“But with our resources … we have to balance investigations against other things that are important,” she said.

Michael Petroff, western region director for the Fire Department Safety Officers Association, said another big issue for NIOSH was the fact it had no authority to enter an investigation.

“They have no jurisdiction and may be excluded from any process,” said Petroff.

“If NIOSH could be allowed the same authority that the FAA or NTSB have, then all fatalities would be investigated in a timely, consistent method and would yield objective reports.”

There was also a need, Petroff said, to investigate serious injuries with the same approach.

“There has been discussion about creating such ‘go teams’ but no action,” he said.

Preventative measures
Petroff added that the numbers of firefighter injuries are not accurately recorded, and that a better plan for employing preventative measures could be determined by studying serious injury accidents and near-misses.

“With objective NIOSH reports, fire departments could possibly reduce injuries and deaths,” he said.

The firefighter fatality investigation process was launched in the mid-1990s, following talks between the IAFF and former President Bill Clinton at how firefighting deaths seemed to have stalled at about 100 annually.

In a statement, the IAFF said it was “in full support of NIOSH continuing its involvement and role in investigations.”

It added it would continue to push for and support additional funding for NIOSH to enhance such investigations.

The IAFF was among the organizations that participated in the stakeholder meeting and review process last year.

It said that nearly all of its recommendations were met in the report, such as ensuring the numbers of investigations are not reduced, holding follow-up investigations to ensure recommendations are met, and conducting more research on technologies with other agencies.

Following the press coverage earlier this year of the investigation team, the IAFC set up a task force to address the issues involved in investigating firefighter fatalities. Its report is due at the end of this month.

Castillo said she welcomed any input from stakeholders that would improve investigations.

New system welcomed
Billy Goldfeder, deputy chief of the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department in Ohio and one of the forces behind FirefighterCloseCalls.com, welcomed the NIOSH report.

“Any time an organization that focuses on the investigation of firefighter deaths takes a look at themselves to see how they can improve is a home run for any of us,” he said.

But he said other issues remained, such as funding levels and the level of authority NIOSH had in investigating firefighter fatalities.

“It’s positive that this report has come out,” he said, “but the issue is will the changes be supported and funded?

“Maybe we’ve reached a point where it (the investigation team) needs to be a little more stronger, powerful and aggressive.”

David Murphy, Associate Professor of Fire Safety Engineering Technology at the University of North Carolina, echoed calls for more funding.

“NIOSH is under-funded and under-staffed,” he said. “In many cases they lack the specific expertise to thoroughly investigate every LODD. Let’s give them the resources they need to do the job.”