NIOSH Research Improves Equipment Design to Protect Firefighters

A Story of Impact :

In the United States, approximately 1.1 million firefighters risk their lives to put out fires and rescue people from burning buildings and other dangerous situations.¹ On average, 90 to 100 firefighters die in the line of duty each year.¹ In 2010, firefighters suffered approximately 72,000 injuries. The average rate of fatal workplace injuries in firefighters was 16.6 per 100,000 employed, which was 4 times higher than the rate for all workers in 2006.² Firefighters rely heavily on their equipment and gear to help protect them from being injured or killed in crashes, rollover incidents, and excessive thermal and chemical exposures. They can also benefit from ergonomically designed fire apparatus to enhance safe operation and reduce other risks, such as falls from vehicles. However, poor fit of personal protective equipment (PPE), gear, and fire apparatus can compromise performance and safety. For example, if seat belts cannot be buckled by larger firefighters wearing their gear, the firefighters will not be protected by these lifesaving devices.

In 2006, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation reported the need to consider firefighter anthropometry (body size and shape information) when designing fire apparatus (i.e., vehicle) and equipment (i.e., body restraint, bunker gear, cab, mask, seat). A group of firefighter associations and fire apparatus manufacturers proposed a survey of U.S. firefighters to address fire-apparatus design issues and to update the NFPA standards for apparatus and PPE.^* In response, NIOSH collaborated with the firefighter community, firefighter apparatus manufacturers, and the NFPA standards committee to plan and conduct a national survey on firefighter anthropometry during 2008-2012 and transferred data and knowledge into product design processes.