Written by Tom Louis, Business Development Analyst at Emergency Reporting.
The services that fire departments deliver to their communities today are nothing short of remarkable: EMS, technical rescue, haz-mat, prevention, public education, car seat checks, complimentary blood pressure checks, fall injury prevention programs, community paramedicine, and of course, the occasional fire. Fire departments continue to epitomize customer service.
Behind each one of these services are a variety of standards, regulations, and industry-accepted practices that guide fire departments to deliver services effectively and safely. It is with safety in mind that I’d like to discuss one standard that can be quite the elephant in the room, NFPA 1500 – Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety, Health, and Wellness Program. It’s not so much an elephant we don’t talk about, but it is the rule that addresses nearly everything about fire department safety. This can make NFPA 1500 an overwhelming standard to follow.
If you would like to learn more about how Emergency Reporting can help with your NFPA 1500 program you can view our Safety Analytics video on our YouTube channel or check out our Safety Analytics Module.
So, how do you eat this elephant? Simple: One bite at a time.
NFPA 1500 – Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety, Health, and Wellness Program is our industry’s consensus standard for all things safety-related. It is the foundational document that references many other NFPA standards. Its purpose is to keep everyone on the job healthy and safe. The inaugural edition came out in 1987 with the late Alan Brunacini, former Phoenix Fire Chief, at the helm. He was the first NFPA 1500 committee chair. Today, the 2018 Edition is the seventh iteration of this valuable document. A quick glance at the table of contents reveals just how much this document covers:
- Training, Education, Professional Development
- Fire Apparatus and Equipment / Driver Operators
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Emergency Operations
- Facility Safety
- Medical and Physical Requirements
- Behavioral Health
- Occupational Exposure to Atypically Stressful Events
Okay, so pretty much everything, right? Do you know any department that complies 100 percent with 1500? It’s a tall order. So, while perfection may be unattainable, excellence is always worth pursuing. It was the same chief that chaired the first NFPA 1500 committee who said, “Done is better than perfect.”
With that in mind here are four thoughts for finding success with NFPA 1500 compliance:
1. Prioritize
Have leaders in your department (both formal and informal) assess your organization’s strengths and weaknesses regarding safety. Don’t be afraid to ask the troops what they think because their candor can be illuminating. A great document to get you started is found here: NFPA Worksheet.
2. Make Use of Your In-house Talent
Every department has individuals that have a passion for certain aspects of the job. Find that engineer who is always tinkering with the trucks, he may be the perfect choice to develop an NFPA 1500-compliant program for apparatus. Tapping into these internal resources can create buy-in from everyone in the organization. It takes a team to make NFPA 1500 work.
3. Reach Out
Start with your neighboring departments. Ask them how they are achieving NFPA 1500 compliance. I know this seems obvious, but egos eat brains. It’s okay to not have all the answers because the solutions are out there, you just might need to seek them out. Just remember: you don’t need to go it alone.
4. Reach Further
The resources at the National Fallen Fire Fighters website are outstanding.
Also, consider courses offered by the National Fire Academy (NFA), the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE), and your local OSHA office. Many of the OSHA classes are free so give them a call to get started. Your local college or university also may offer these Fire & Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) courses: Principles of Fire & Emergency Services Safety and Survival or Advanced Principles in Fire Fighter Safety & Survival. Both are excellent classes that can help jump-start your NFPA 1500 compliance as a department.
It shouldn’t require breaking a really expensive piece of equipment, injuring one of our own, or having a line of duty death before we make changes to improve the troops’ safety. There is no better time than today to get started and no better document than NFPA 1500 to guide you toward safety excellence.
For more information on how Emergency Reporting can help you master your NFPA 1500 program, please check out our Safety Analytics Module. In addition, Emergency Reporting has put together a three-part blog series to help your agency better measure your NFPA 1500 program.
- A Better Way To Gauge Safety: Measure NFPA 1500 Requirements (Part 1)
- A better Way To Gauge Safety: Measure NFPA 1500 Requirements (Part 2)
- A Better Way To gauge Safety: How To Implement NFPA 1500 (Part 3)
Good luck and stay safe.
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About the Author:
Tom Louis currently serves as a Business Development Analyst, Subject Matter Expert, and Key Account Manager for Emergency Reporting. He retired as a battalion chief from the Green Valley Fire District in Arizona in 2013 after serving for 22 years. He has used Emergency Reporting since 2004 and has been part of the Emergency Reporting family since 2011, working with customers throughout the United States and in Canada, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, and Kuwait. He holds two associate degrees and graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with a bachelor of applied science degree in Fire Service Management. He believes that in order to tell a fire department’s story, high quality, actionable data in an easily understandable manner is essential for our communities and decisionmakers. He is an avid reader of both non-fiction books and technothriller novels, loves classic and modern Mopar muscle cars, and has a soft spot for retired racing greyhounds.
