Fire fighter fatalities 1998-2001: overview with an emphasis on structure related traumatic fatalities.

OBJECTIVE: To review the causes of all fire fighter line-of-duty-deaths from 1998 through 2001, and present recommendations for preventing fatalities within the specific subgroup of structure related events. METHODS: Fire fighter fatality data from the United States Fire Administration were reviewed and classified into three main categories of injury. Investigations conducted through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program provided the basis for the recommendations presented in this paper. RESULTS: During the time period from 1998-2001, there were 410 line-of-duty deaths among fire fighters in the United States, excluding the 343 fire fighters who died at the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. The 410 fatalities included 191 medical (non-traumatic) deaths (47%), 75 motor vehicle related fatalities (18%), and 144 other traumatic fatalities (35%). The latter group included 68 fatalities that were associated with structures which commonly involved structural collapse, rapid fire progression, and trapped fire fighters. CONCLUSIONS: Structural fires pose particular hazards to fire fighters. Additional efforts must be directed to more effectively use what we have learned through the NIOSH investigations and recommendations from published experts in the safety community, consensus standards, and national fire safety organizations to reduce fire fighter fatalities during structural fire fighting.

Occupational injury mortality rates in the United States: changes from 1980 to 1989.

Changes in occupational injury mortality rates over the 1980s were examined through analysis of the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities surveillance system. The US occupational injury mortality rate decreased 37% over the decade, with decreases seen in nearly every demographic and employment sector. Greater declines were among men, Blacks, and younger workers, as well as among agricultural, trade, and service workers. Electrocutions, machine-related incidents, and homicides showed the greatest decreases. Changes in occupational mortality rates by demography, industry, and cause of death indicate the areas in which the most progress has been made and those that are prime targets for prevention efforts.

Understanding and evaluating manual handling injuries: NIOSH research studies.

This paper presents an overview of NIOSH research aimed at characterizing and identifying intervention strategies for reducing musculoskeletal injuries during manual handling activities. Surveillance and evaluative research projects are reviewed. Future research directions of the Institute are also discussed.

Investigation of the after-reach hazard in two-hand controlled power press operations.

One hazard inherent to hand-feeding operations at a power press occurs when a worker reaches into the point of operation after initiating the downward stroke of the press ram. One approach for controlling this hazard is to locate a two-hand actuator at a distance sufficiently far from the point of operation to prevent the operator from getting his hand into the die area before the ram completes its descent. In a study of this problem, the activities of a power press were simulated in the laboratory with the use of a model power press and two locations for the actuator controls, an upper and a lower location. The subjects performed simulated work cycles using the laboratory power press. Randomly an after-reach condition was created in which the subjects were to each into the press die area to reposition a dislodged work blank. The after-reach time, ie, the time needed to reach from the actuator controls to the press die area, was measured. The results of this study indicated that there is a difference in hand-reach speed depending upon the location of the actuator controls. It was concluded that, to define hand-reach speed adequately, more research is needed to characterize the effect of other variables.