The International Association of Fire Chiefs will hold a stakeholders meeting on Feb. 10–11 to set its National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System 2011–2013 priorities and is calling on fire leadership to submit comments about the system prior to the meeting. The IAFC is looking for suggestions and comments on how to improve the usability of the online reporting system, said Amy Tippett, IAFC project manager.

Tippett wants to hear from the field about how the near-miss reporting system can become a better tool to improve firefighter safety. Currently, the system is a secure, centralized location where firefighters and leadership voluntarily fill out confidential reports on near-miss incidents. Once submitted, two IAFC reviewers conduct a background analysis on the report and ask follow-up questions; then, they provide an analysis of the event and/or a larger-scale analysis of trends in that area — all of which are posted online.

Definitions of near-miss incidents vary, but they often include reports of minor traffic accidents and burns. Tippett said reports usually detail missteps taken by firefighters or leadership that led to the near-miss, in hopes others may learn from someone else’s mistake. Educating others about this benefit will be part of the 2011–2012 strategic vision development meeting. She said it will include outreach specifically to volunteer departments and encouraging the submission of all-hazards reports, including EMS, hazmat and technical rescue.

“We want to hit the volunteer community more and ensure fire service personnel know it is an all-hazards reporting program,” Tippett said.

Tippet also would like to receive comments on how to package the information for the fire service, for example through five- or 10-year profiles, case studies, statistics or group reports on specific topics.

Comments can be sent directly to Tippet via e-mail.

The published priorities are expected to be available in Q2 2011, Tippett said.