1. Occupational Safety and Health
for Emergency Services
Fourth Edition
Chapter 11 — Safety Program Evaluation
2. Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to:
‣ Describe the purpose of evaluating the safety and
health program.
‣ Compare the two types of evaluations—process and
outcome.
‣ Explain who is responsible for evaluating the safety
and health program.
‣ Describe the recommended frequency of evaluation
and the factors that affect the frequency.
3. Introduction
‣ Chapter 4 of NFPA 1500
‣ Requires risk management plan to be monitored
annually
‣ Evaluated every 3 years by an independent source
‣ New safety and health program
‣ Evaluate its effectiveness
‣ Measuring of results is necessary
‣ Compare where the organization is now to where it
was before
4. The Evaluation Process
‣ Three reasons to evaluate
‣ See if the program is effective
‣ Determine the response from the members’
perspectives
‣ Facilitate program changes
‣ Compare outcomes
‣ Analyze statistics
‣ Changes should be considered
5. Process Evaluation (1 of 2)
‣ Analysis of the procedures of the program
‣ Questions that must be answered:
‣ Who was affected by the program?
‣ To what extent were they affected?
‣ Are improvements occurring as planned?
‣ Which parts of the program appear to be most
effective?
‣ Which parts of the program appear to be least
effective?
7. Outcome Evaluation (1 of 2)
‣ Compares the result of the program to the goal
‣ After the program has been in effect for a while
‣ Several areas should be analyzed
‣ Current compared to prior injury rates
‣ Changes in knowledge, behavior, and performance
‣ Changes in the physical environment
‣ Responses to policy changes
9. Responsibility for Evaluation (1 of 2)
‣ Fire chief, EMS director, or safety and health
manager may oversee evaluation
‣ Evaluation accomplished through
‣ Safety committee
‣ Incident safety officers
‣ Senior staff members
‣ First-line supervisors
‣ Responders
10. Responsibility for Evaluation (2 of 2)
‣ NFPA 1500 recommendations
‣ Externally evaluated
‣ Every three years
‣ External evaluation
‣ Highly recommended
‣ Demonstrates a positive effort
‣ Find areas for improvement
11. Evaluation Frequency (1 of 2)
‣ Program evaluation
‣ Required component
‣ Occurs before the program even starts
‣ Process evaluation can be an almost continuous
process
‣ Outcome evaluation
‣ The end of a specific period of time
‣ Usually one year
‣ Measured time frame
12. Evaluation Frequency (2 of 2)
‣ Frequency should be considered dynamic
‣ Evaluate if one of the following occurs
‣ A serious injury, near miss, or death occurs:
‣ Findings during a postincident analysis require
evaluation
‣ New technology is introduced
‣ Changes are made to applicable regulations or
standards
