On November 13, 2019, a 39-year-old lieutenant died and four other firefighters were injured while fighting a residential structure fire in Massachusetts. One of the key recommendations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Fire Fighter Fatality Investigations was as follows: “Fire departments should incorporate the principles of command safety into the incident management system during the initial assumption of command. This ensures that strategic-level safety responsibilities are incorporated into the command functions throughout the incident.”
Are lives unintentionally put at risk by not having an incident safety officer (ISO) on scene? According to the NIOSH report, there was no incident safety officer on scene during this tragic incident.
- Firefighter Training Drills: The Role of the Safety Officer
- Being an Effective Incident Safety Officer
- Today’s Incident Safety Officer
My fire department is very fortunate. We always have a full-time ISO on duty 24/7/365. The ISO is dispatched to all working fires, special operations, and other significant incidents. In addition to emergency response, the ISO investigates injuries, near misses, and accidents that occur on the duty shift.
I realize that not every fire department can afford to have a dedicated ISO. Are fire departments setting people up for failure by assigning inexperienced or nonoperational personnel to perform the duties of the ISO?
In some fire departments, the ISO role is a secondary task. The junior chief, a training officer, or an operational captain may be tagged as the ISO at an emergency incident. What are the minimums in knowledge, training, and experience required to be an ISO? Following are my recommendations as minimums.
Knowledge
Risk Management Process. Identifying hazards and minimizing the opportunity for damage, loss, or worse is the primary role of an ISO. A five-step risk management process should include hazard identification, hazard evaluation, hazard prioritization, hazard control, and hazard monitoring.
Soft Skills. Learning how to communicate effectively with people is a vital skill in the ISO’s toolbox. An ISO must select the most appropriate way to deliver a safety message to get the best possible outcome. Messages can be delivered through nonverbal communication, soft intervention, and firm intervention.
Building Construction and Fire Behavior. An ISO must thoroughly understand the impact of fire on the structure and be able to accurately predict the potential for collapse. The ISO must also be able to identify the indicators of a potential hostile fire event (i.e., flashover, backdraft, smoke explosion, wind-driven fire, ventilation-controlled fire) and take precautionary actions or make timely recommendations to the incident commander (IC).
Thorough Understanding of Fire Department Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The ISO must understand what is supposed to happen according to department protocols and recognize when procedures and guidelines are not being followed or not working as expected.
Special Operations. ISOs must acknowledge when they don’t have the required skill set in the special operation being conducted (i.e., hazmat, trench rescue, high angle, swift water rescue). When an ISO lacks the required background, an assistance safety officer (ASO) with the appropriate knowledge must be appointed. The ASO will supervise the special operation and the ISO will supervise the overall incident.
Training
The ISO should be certified in accordance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1521, Standard for Fire Department Safety Officer Professional Qualifications. This training may be taken through a ProBoard or IFSAC accredited training organization or the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (fdsoa.org/ISO).
The ISO should pursue continuous professional development through books, trade journals, podcasts, conferences, and in-person training. There are many online training opportunities. If you want to take a single course on a specific topic (i.e., building construction, wildland fire behavior, electrical safety) or do a deeper dive into occupational health and safety, there are many resources available online. Below are a few sources of online training:
- U.S. Fire Administration: usfa.fema.gov
- National Wildfire Coordinating Group: nwcg.gov
- Columbia Southern University: columbiasouthern.edu
- University of New Brunswick: unb.ca/cel/career/occupational-health-safety/index.html
The ISO must be adept at report writing. The ability to capture lessons learned and communicate them effectively in writing is an important ISO skill. Verbally passing suggestions up the chain of command is not good enough. The ISO must be able to articulate in writing compelling reasons for fire department leadership to act.
Experience
Mentor Under an Experienced ISO. A good mentor will demonstrate what is required of an ISO and coach you on how to effectively perform the ISO role. This is a great opportunity to receive feedback on performance, ask questions, and learn the tricks of the trade.
Incident Command. Having experience as an IC will permit the ISO to see the incident from both the IC and safety perspectives. An ISO may have to make a safety decision that conflicts with the IC. In my department, the ISO has authority to override an order given by the IC. If the ISO decides to counter an order given by the IC, the ISO had better have the knowledge, training, and experience to support that decision.
How does an ISO practically apply all this knowledge, training, and experience during a working fire at a residential structure? During a structure fire incident, the ISO is a key member of the incident management team. The role of the ISO is to monitor and assess safety hazards or unsafe situations and develop measures to ensure firefighter safety.
ISO Functions at Structural Fires
The three general functions of an ISO at a structure fire include reconnaissance, risk-taking evaluation, and safety system effectiveness.
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance, or site survey, consists of information collection. It begins as soon as the ISO arrives at the fire incident. The ISO typically reports to the IC for a quick brief on the incident action plan (IAP). Following that, the ISO will tour the incident area, evaluating current conditions and anticipating changes that will impact safety. During the initial site survey, the ISO will have to define what the principal hazards are. These hazards pose a significant threat to the responders on scene. Examples include hostile fire events such as flashover and backdraft, structural collapse potential, issues with the structure that will contribute to fire growth or impede the IAP, and hazardous energy such as electrical systems or hazardous materials.
The next part of reconnaissance involves assessing environmental integrity. This means making a judgment on the interaction between the building, conditions, and hazards in terms of stability (change potential) and time (rate of change). Decisions to recommend or implement preventive measures will be based on the spectrum below:
- Stable and not likely to change: No action is required.
- Stable but changing slowly: Action may or may not be required.
- Unstable and changing slowly: Recommend or implement action.
- Unstable and changing quickly: Implement action immediately.
In addition to primary hazards, the ISO must identify other hazards that may impact operations. They may include physical items such as terrain grade, foliage, fences, or other barriers. They may also include atmospheric conditions such as wind, rain, snow, rush hour, and time of day or night.
Finally, the ISO must assess resource effectiveness. Are the resources on scene (personnel, equipment, technical knowledge) adequate to implement the IAP? Are the resources on scene making progress to achieve the IAP? Many fire departments use predetermined alarm assignments for various types of incidents that can be upgraded with additional units as required. It is better to request more resources than you need early in the incident and send them back than to be lacking what you need to accomplish the IAP. Specialty teams may be required for hazardous materials, technical rescue, water rescue, or other unique circumstances.
If incident conditions are deteriorating faster than positive results can be achieved, the ISO must inform the IC. The ISO should use a solution-oriented approach when bringing issues to the IC. The approach includes three observations and a question:
- This is what I see.
- This is what it means to me.
- Here’s my solution.
- What do you think?
Risk-Taking Evaluation
During the reconnaissance, the ISO can quickly become overwhelmed with information. The ISO should use a checklist or action model as a memory aid to ensure important details are documented and process is followed. A checklist can be used to record notes on incident details such as IC briefing, 360⁰ reconnaissance, personnel, risk review, apparatus, and miscellaneous items. Examples of ISO checklists can be found in the first reference at the end of this article.
The acronym MEDIC (monitor, evaluate, develop, intervene, and communicate) is a common action model. The ISO must monitor the incident by staying aware of current activities and changing conditions. The best way to maintain situational awareness is to repeatedly conduct site surveys and check in with the IC on a regular interval (usually every 15 minutes at a typical incident). The ISO must evaluate and make judgments on hazards, risk taking, rate of change, safety systems, and IAP effectiveness.
If the ISO notes something of safety concern, preventive measures are required. Once the preventive measure has been determined, the ISO must intervene to prevent harm. This can take many forms. The ISO can trigger safe behaviors by being visible and practicing safe behaviors. The ISO should use face-to-face as the primary communication tool. The ISO can use nonverbal and soft interventions such as friendly reminders to impact behaviors and actions at an emergency incident.
Firm interventions should be saved for those situations where an imminent threat—one that is determined to be so dangerous to persons or property that immediate corrective or preventive action is required—exists. A firm intervention is considered a direct order. The ISO should reserve the radio for communicating firm interventions.
The ISO can fall into traps that may render him ineffective at communicating safety messages at fire incidents. These traps can include acting as a bunker gear cop, firmly enforcing every rule, and performing tactical activities (i.e., doing firefighter work and losing incident situational awareness).
Safety System Effectiveness
The last general function of an ISO at a fire incident is to monitor the effectiveness of safety systems. Safety systems include the procedures and actions performed at a fire incident to track personnel, mitigate hazards, and respond to emergencies. The ISO must ensure these systems are properly functioning and activated as required. Some examples of safety systems used at a fire incident include the following:
- Accountability system.
- Rehabilitation.
- Radio transmissions.
- Rapid intervention crew (RIC).
- Traffic control.
- Control zones.
The ISO can expand the safety function by requesting ASOs through the IC. Circumstances that would require ASOs can include geographic size, special operations, RIC activation, high-rise incident, and risk level of the incident.
ISO Role Important
Are lives unintentionally put at risk by not having an ISO on scene? The ISO is a key member of the incident management team. The role of the ISO is to monitor/assess hazards and develop measures to ensure firefighter safety. The ISO should use a memory aid to ensure a process is followed and nothing is overlooked. The ISO must repeatedly perform reconnaissance and check in with the IC to maintain situational awareness. This will enable the ISO to make effective and timely interventions. The ISO must ensure all required safety systems are in place. They enable the incident management team to effectively respond to an event that was not forecasted. The IC and the ISO must work together to ensure everyone goes home at the end of a fire incident.
References
Dodson, D., 2021. Fire Department Incident Safety Officer. Revised Third Edition. Jones and Bartlett Learning. bit.ly/3y9YKEm.
NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program. Report Number F2019-18.
Bruce Lake is the division chief of safety and compliance with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a Level 4 fire officer, Level 3 fire service instructor, incident safety officer, health and safety officer, executive chief fire officer, and graduate member of the Institution of Fire Engineers. Prior to joining the fire service, he served in the Canadian Army as an infantry officer.
