Can More Be Done to Reduce Firefighter Injury?

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with Human Factors (HFs) that may contribute to the injury of firefighters during emergency response operations , and the extent to which Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) take them into account when investigating, recording, analysing, or reporting accident causation. At the turn of the century, there were 3206 such injuries recorded by FRSs in England (HM Government, 2010). In the latest report, this figure has reduced by a little over two-thirds to 1052 (Home Office, 2018); a good news story, one that may reflect the efforts of many in making the operational staff of the FRS 'safe peo-ple'. But it could also be argued that, rather than positive examples of FRS employers fulfilling their duties and responsibilities for ensuring the firefighter is a 'safe person', the dramatic reduction (67.2%) could be interpreted as a largely coincidental by-product of the socialisation of responsibility for fire risk management. With little evidence of a specific 5