1. Occupational Safety and Health
for Emergency Services
Fourth Edition
Chapter 12 — Information Management
2. Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to:
‣ Describe the purpose of data collection and reporting.
‣ Identify the data that should be collected within the
organization.
‣ Identify the data that should be collected for outside
organizations.
‣ Describe the purpose and process for publishing an
internal safety and health report.
‣ Describe the use of the Internet as a safety and health
information source.
3. Introduction
‣ Data collection and analysis
‣ Development of program goals and objectives
‣ Evaluation of the program and its components
‣ Internal data
‣ Collected and analyzed
‣ Report should be published
‣ Internet
‣ Policies from other similar departments
4. Internal Data Collection (1 of 2)
‣ Common data types
‣ Injury reports
‣ Accident reports
‣ Individual medical histories
‣ Drug-free workplace test results
‣ Reports dealing with an employee killed in the line of
duty
‣ Exposure records
5. Internal Data Collection (2 of 2)
‣ Standardized forms
‣ Place into a database
‣ Easy retrieval and
analysis
‣ Medical data
‣ Confidential
‣ Need to know basis
‣ HIPAA impact
Courtesy of VFIS.
6. External Data Collection
‣ Collected internally and used by another agency
‣ State or national database
‣ Workers’ compensation carrier
‣ Insurance company
‣ Reporting forms
‣ Adequate background information
‣ External reporting requirements
7. Workers’ Compensation
‣ Rules and laws
‣ Specific time frames
‣ Injury or potential claim
‣ Carrier
‣ Provide a summary of claims
‣ Useful tool for program evaluation
8. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
‣ OSHA 1904 regulation
‣ OSHA 300 and 301
‣ Completed in seven calendar days
‣ Recordable injury
‣ Death
‣ Days away from work
‣ Restricted work or transfer to another job
‣ Medical treatment beyond first aid
‣ Loss of consciousness
9. National Fire Protection Association
‣ Annual injury report
‣ Annual fire fighter fatality report
‣ Injury portion
‣ Sampling
‣ Designed to predict national experience
‣ Organizations are asked to participate
10. U.S. Fire Administration
‣ Collects safety and health data
‣ National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)
‣ Voluntary
‣ Components for reporting fatalities and injuries
‣ Annual nationwide report
11. International Association of Fire Fighters
‣ Collects data
‣ Annual injury, exposure, and fatality reports
‣ Only from paid fire departments with IAFF affiliation
‣ United States and Canada
‣ Published report
‣ Activities relating to EMS
12. National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
‣ NIOSH began a project in 1997
‣ Investigates fire fighter line-of-duty deaths
‣ Program objectives
‣ Better identify and define the characteristics of line-
of-duty deaths
‣ Develop recommendations for the prevention of
deaths and injuries
‣ Disseminate prevention strategies to the fire service
13. Publishing the Safety and Health Report (1 of 4)
‣ Annual safety and health report
‣ Number of required sections
‣ Questions
‣ Where were we?
‣ Where are we now?
‣ Where are we going?
‣ How can we get there?
‣ Should be distributed to all levels of an organization
14. Publishing the Safety and Health Report (2 of 4)
‣ Should contain the following information
‣ Introduction
‣ Description of the general state of the organization
‣ List of accomplishments/improvements/benchmarks
‣ Goals and objectives for the next reporting period
‣ Analysis of the injuries and fatalities for the reporting
year
‣ Comparison of the department’s experience to that
of the national experience
15. Publishing the Safety and Health Report (3 of 4)
‣ Comparison of the department’s experience to that
of similar departments
‣ Report of significant incidents
‣ Summary of the organization’s compliance
‣ Other plans for improvement and requested
resources
‣ Summary of the report
‣ Specific graphics relating to the presentation of the
information
17. Accessing Safety and Health Information
Using the Internet (1 of 2)
‣ Computer technology
‣ Access to a great deal of information
‣ E-mail
‣ Reports can be filed
‣ Policy changes can be distributed
‣ Internet search engines
‣ Validity of the information
‣ Credibility of the source
