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:: Research - New Zealand
Firefighters injured on the job or at the station |
New Zealand
Firefighters
Injured on the job or at the station
by
Dan
Coward
Graduate Diploma Occupational Safety and Health
A distillation submitted for the
thesis of
Occupational Safety and Health
Adelaide University
During the 12 months June 2001 and July
2002, career firefighters of the New Zealand Fire Service injured
themselves 562 times. Based on international trends, the majority of
these injuries should have occurred while attending some of the
60,000 odd emergency incidents that occurred during this period.
What was not known is where the injuries actually took place, what
type of injuries they were and did they in fact follow international
trends of firefighter injuries.
The increased emphasis placed on
firefighter injuries, the cost to an organisation and the need for
senior management to both reduce the cost and frequency should place
a need to research the area of firefighter injuries as a priority.
Determining whether organisationally, the trends are similar with
international trends and therefore receptive to international injury
prevention strategies or unique to the operations of the
organisation and country, would be highlighted if undertook.
Despite the compounding reasons why
research into this field should be undertaken, research
internationally has been undertaken, but within the New Zealand Fire
Service, it has been non-existent.
To effectively and actively want to
reduce injuries to firefighters, significant research had to be
undertaken into firefighter injuries. Evidence of research into the
injuries does not exist on a significant level to make the
reductions currently required achievable or sustainable.
To want to reduce the injuries
firefighters of the New Zealand Fire Service currently face requires
a level of understanding of injury data. Additionally where the
organisation lies with international trends is also key to adopting
practices to reduce injury frequency. The emphasis on reducing
injuries to firefighters stems from the New Zealand Fire Service
Strategic 5 year plan. Contained within the plan are the Health and
Safety goals that are to be meet by the organisations senior
management. This is placed within the performance agreements that
senior management have. Currently this calls for an accident
frequency rate of less than 55/1,000,000 hours worked and a return
to work within 40 hours target.
The process utilised to determine this
figure is unknown, yet if attained could save the organisation a
significant amount. Injuries cost the New Zealand Fire Service close
to a million dollars every year. With a reduction of injuries to the
organisation, clearly from a fiscal aspect, savings would be made.
To be able to achieve the reduction in
costs, identifying what areas of the organisation injuries are
occurring needs to occur. This aspect provides the basis for injury
prevention strategies to be developed and introduced. In identifying
specific areas that have a high frequency of injuries, changes could
be made to those specific areas or tasks. Whilst cost associated
with changes may be high in the short term, applying a reduction in
injuries of X% to this specific area of injuries, the opportunity in
forecasting what savings could occur could be undertaken. For
example, if 19% of injuries were occurring on or in the fire
appliances, by addressing some simple ergonomic factors such as
wider steps, external lighting of the fire appliance, the costs
associated in changing fire appliance design could be offset by the
savings made from the reduction of injuries. This approach was
undertaken by the United Kingdom Fire Service in 1972 following an
investigation into the types of injuries being recorded. Changes
were made to both ergonomic design and lighting of the fire
appliance that resulted in significant reductions of injuries,
highlighted by a comparative study that was undertaken in 1997.
Clearly the emphasis placed on reducing
firefighter injuries is fiscal focused as part of an overall
management plan, yet the research required in identifying the nature
of injuries and their locations as the foundation for any ensuring
process adopted, but did not exist.
The research that has been undertaken
over the past decade into the hazardous substances and environments
that firefighters face has provided a decade of improvements to the
personal protective clothing and equipment firefighters now have.
Significant research exists in this field and noticeably has been
acted upon. Recent introduction of a health-monitoring programme for
employees of the New Zealand Fire Service was the result of several
years’ research involving medical professional, employee and
management representatives to continue the
monitoring of exposures to the hazards identified.
What this highlighted was the lack of
research that had been undertaken in the New Zealand Fire Service in
relation to firefighter injuries. GMV Associates undertook a
workplace analysis of firefighter injuries in 1999. This was the
first major study of firefighter injuries within the organisation
and covered off two periods of time during the early to mid 1990s’.
The purpose of this research was from a fiscal perspective with the
leading objective being;
‘Analyse the New Zealand Fire
Service Claims history to assist in quantifying their risk to a
private insurer’
The research undertaken noted an
overall trend downwards of the frequency of injuries. It was also
the first indication that incident ground injuries were higher than
those that occurred on station or carrying out routine activities.
The research concluded that reporting systems were not accurate to
validate the information further and recommended investment into
future reporting systems. The end result was the privatisation of
insurance for the New Zealand Fire Service until 2001 when
legislative changes forced another change in managing injury claims.
The study undertaken by GMV associates
was the only ‘firefighter injury’ based research that had been
undertaken into the New Zealand Fire Service and contributed greatly
to the development of Health and Safety within the organisation.
Significant changes had occurred within the organisation since this
research and the lack of recent research into firefighter injuries
was a key element into the research undertaken. With the historic
and international trends of injuries being incident ground based,
the potential existed for future injury prevention programmes to be
focused around this theory and not take into account all aspects of
the data that exists. In addition, fuelling any preconceptions that
firefighting is extremely hazardous.
From the research undertaken into
existing international papers, a clear indication that firefighter
injuries were significantly higher at the incident ground was
established. This was firmly identified by researchers in the United
Kingdom and United States. The National Fire Protection Association
in America produced an annual report into the injuries firefighters
suffered. Their reports during 1996 to 2001 showed the incidence
rate of injuries still higher at the incident ground accounting for
up to 68% of all injuries suffered.
Findings from the United Kingdom during
1997 supported this trend with 56% of all injuries recorded against
the incident ground. Earlier research undertaken by the Fire
Research and Development Group into firefighter injuries in the
United Kingdom again showed 50% of injuries occurring at the
incident ground. International trends were indicating a significant
hazard in the occupation of firefighting, with 50% or more injuries
occurring at the incident ground. Utilising accident/injury data
held by the New Zealand Fire Service for 12 months during 2001 and
2002 to establish what frequency of injuries were occurring on the
incident ground was undertaken to compare with the internationally
identified trend of incident ground injuries.
What was identified were the injuries
occurring at the incident ground accounted for only 28% of total
injuries, with some 72% of all injuries
occurring on the fire station, or some other site carrying out non
incident ground activities. This was in complete contrast to the
trends identified and highlighted a need for further research into
firefighter injuries, identifying where the incidences were, nature,
contributing factors and their correlation to emergency incidents
attended.
Only one piece of research linked the
frequency of injuries occurring at an incident ground with the
number of emergency incidents attended. This conclusion reached by
the Fire Research Development Group was the only one identified,
with comparisons of incident frequency and injury frequency within
the New Zealand Fire Service showing no correlation.
The data selected from the New Zealand
Fire Service was based upon legislative changes to both the Health
and Safety in Employment Amendment Act 2002 and the Injury
Prevention, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2001. With the
significant changes to the legislation covering the reporting of
accidents and the method of recording and managing injuries about to
take place; the change in reporting programmes prior to 2000, a snap
shot in time existed with the data held. The data held portrayed a
picture different to international trends when discussing location
of injury, but supported the nature of injury suffered by
firefighters.
Identifying the nature of injury that
firefighters faced internationally was aided by research undertaken
in the United Kingdom and the United States fire services into the
nature of injuries. Researchers showed the most significant nature
of injury to be sprains and strains. This was a view upheld with
data held by the New Zealand Fire Service, and further supported by
the Accident Compensation Corporation (responsible for the data of
injuries suffered by all persons in New Zealand). On average 40% of
all injuries that occurred to firefighters internationally were
sprains or strains. This is irrespective of their location. With
little research being undertaken into firefighter injuries in New
Zealand, the opportunity to access the comprehensive resources for
combating sprains and strains was missed. The Accident Compensation
Corporation had identified nationally that the majority of all
injuries that occurred across all vocations were sprains and
strains, accounting for 40% of all diagnosed injuries. With adequate
research into the data held by the New Zealand Fire service, this
would have been identified and the opportunities would have been
offered.
The findings of the data held by the
New Zealand Fire Service indicated the incident ground as being less
hazardous than the station environment (from an injuries
perspective) supporting the view held that significant research and
resulting changes had arisen from the research into the hazardous
environments and exposures firefighters face over the past decade.
An increase in training standards, personal protective clothing,
safety equipment and resources have reduced the frequency of
injuries reported at the incident ground during the early 1990s (as
reported by GMV Associates) than those reported during 2002/2002.
What this further pointed to was the
lack of knowledge about the nature and frequency of injuries that
are occurring whilst on station. The resources and money that is
spent on improving or making significant changes to the station work
environment from an ergonomic perspective as a result of researching
injury frequencies, injury locations, nature of injury and
contributing factors, is amiss.
To reduce the frequency of injuries
suffered by firefighters, research into the injuries must occur.
Once trends have been identified, the treatment can begin through
the introduction of injury prevention strategies. These cost money.
How to justify expenditure, to determine what expenditure, what
results are required to determine an acceptable margin of success,
are all factors that are influenced by the data and knowledge held
of the firefighter injuries. With little or no research being
undertaken into the injuries suffered by New Zealand Firefighters,
the potential impact on effective injury prevention is significant.
An expenditure of $150,000 into a poster campaign to target a
specific area of risk may reduce the injury frequency by 10-15%.
This will be an ongoing investment each year, as posters fade, the
message becomes routine. An investment of $1.5 million changing the
design or task, may be costly in the short term, but may reduce
injuries by 40-50% and will require little intervention in the
future. Therefore the savings made over a greater period of time
significant, but to be able to make these decisions, an
understanding of the data is essential and a need for research a
determining factor for this process.
The affiliation between the New Zealand
Fire Service and fire services in the United Kingdom is strong. A
number of personal protective clothing, fire appliances, practices
and personnel have originated from the United Kingdom. The
opportunity to review injury data and injury prevention strategies
with a view to implement relevant factors exists due to the strong
affiliation that is shared. With little research being undertaken
within the New Zealand Fire Service, the opportunity to identify
where common factors are shared between organisations provides a
cost effective approach to mitigating or reducing the injury
frequency and ultimately the costs associated. This did not exist.
Through undertaking this research, highlighting to the organisation
the information that exists can have an impact on the way we manage
our data, utilise our data and ultimately reduce costs to the
organisation.
The New Zealand Fire Service is a
government agency, and is funded from insurance levies collected.
Therefore the expenditure of the organisation is under scrutiny from
both the government and the public sector. This requires some
responsibility in managing costs associated with injuries and injury
prevention strategies. It is important for the organisation to show
that they are managing the injuries effectively and responsibly,
with an emphasis on reducing these costs. This also extends to the
measures introduced to reduce those costs.
To effectively reduce the costs
associated with injuries, a greater understanding is required by
those responsible. An in-depth approach to injury management must
extend more than the monthly reporting of new injuries.
The need existed within the New Zealand
Fire Service to undertake some form of research into the injuries
faced by firefighters, the nature of injuries, the location, body
part, what existed about firefighter injuries and where this
corresponded with international trends. Significant research already
exists into the hazardous environments that firefighters are faced
with and is reflected in the advances to date with personal
protective clothing, equipment and practices.
One key factor identified is our
limited knowledge and lack of research into our station work
environment. Having identified a significant percentage of work
based injuries occurring in the fire station, a need now exists to
identify the common elements in these fire stations. Are the
stations of the same era, building design, are the buildings
themselves contributing factors. Is there a need to review the
policies directing the refurbishment or rebuilding of fire stations.
In identifying this element, future construction of work
environments can reduce the frequency of injuries and ultimately the
costs associated to the organisation.
The research undertaken has highlighted
to the organisation a need to:
-
further research firefighter injuries
beyond that of monthly reporting
-
a need to address the station work
environment through further research
-
a greater need for sharing of
information and resources to address the common themes of
firefighter injuries throughout the international fire services
The need for research existed, the
evidence collected and reviewed clearly indicated firefighting to be
less hazardous that that of the station work environment from an
injury perspective, international trends were different from those
identified in the New Zealand Fire Services, further research is
required if reducing firefighter injuries is part of the
organisations goals is to reduce both the injury frequency and
severity, if not from a fiscal perspective, but a welfare issue.
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