Oklahoma State University has completed a study to find ways to reduce firefighter line-of-duty deaths and injuries. The goal of the research, which has evolved over the past two years, was to find ways to reduce firefighter line-of-duty deaths and injuries. Phase I of the project established a list of best practices designed to minimize LODD and injuries. It was funded by National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program through a Department of Homeland Security Fire Prevention and Safety Grant.

The rationale for the first two phases of this project stems from the generally accepted belief that fire leadership and management can make a difference in reducing deaths and injuries. Strategic policymakers such as fire chiefs, deputy chiefs, and assistant chiefs established a safety management system that helps define the organizational safety culture within a fire and rescue department. At the operational level, district and battalion chiefs, along with safety officers, ensure that safety management systems are enforced as they manage incidents. Finally, at the tactical level the key role that the company officer plays as a leader and manager of safety is pivotal. They ensure safety-related behavior by what they say ("buckle-up so we can roll") and by leading by example (wearing their personal protective equipment and self contained breathing apparatus). The research showed that the company officer plays the critical role in defining, on a day-to-day basis, the nature of the organizational safety culture in a fire department.

This report cautions that those who embark on the effort to change the identity of their organization and to change the identity of the fire service will face a highly emotional and defensive response. They will have to rely on the same bravery and courage that they have demonstrated on the fireground in order to survive the challenges involved in a transformational change of identity in the fire service. However, the opportunity for making a significant improvement in the safety performance of the fire service is a tremendous reward and well worth the effort.

The report emphasizes that safety is not about how many firefighters are riding on the fire engine, it is about the values, beliefs and assumptions that firefighter make about what it means to be riding on the fire engine.

The report concludes that an optimal safety culture maximizes the effectiveness of available resources within the reasonable and acceptable limits of risk. The research suggests that the value and worth of the fire service should not be measured by the level of risk and danger to firefighters, but measured by value and performance.

As the culture of the fire service shifts from an identity based on risk to an identity based on safety, it is imperative to develop valid and reliable measures of performance to demonstrate the value and worth that the fire service has within our communities. Although this is separate issue, just like the issue of safety, the development of more comprehensive measures of performance has the potential to challenge the current identity of the fire service.

This report can be found at www.everyonegoeshome.com/news/osustudyP2.html.