Firefighter safety under spotlight
As call-outs hit record levels, study finds staff more likely to get injured on route or training at their headquarters.
A safety awareness campaign has been launched inside the fire service to get drivers to slow down and staff to play easier during sporting exercises.
Injuries and deaths among fire fighters have dropped while attending incidents, even though the number of calls outs has risen 68% in the last year, according to a study by the fire service.
The study into staff safety found most injuries occurred on bases and that road accidents represented 38% of fatalities among fire fighters.
Last year nine people died while tackling fires, compared to 11 in 2006, the lowest figures in 22 years. Since 2003, 65 professionals have died while fighting fires.
The fewer deaths come despite the number of call-outs rising to a record 3.8 million in 2007 – an average of 10,500 per day.
The study also found that 7% of fire fighters were injured last year but attributed 70% of these incidents to sports and training exercises carried out at bases, particularly ‘collisions between people’.
According to a spokesman for the Sécurité civile, road accidents represented 38% of the fatalities and added that road safety information and instructions had been sent out to all bases.
“Driving at 65kmh instead of 50khm through town over 4km will only save a team 66 seconds,” said Colonel Patrick Blais. “However, every 1% above the speed limit raises the risk of fatality 4%.”
When attending incidents the injury toll for fire fighters was 1.4 out of every 1,000 in 2006.
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