Keeping First Responders Safe: Drexel Developed Safety Climate Scale Helps Fire Departments Reach Health and Wellness Goals
By Greg Richter
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A new scale, that effectively measures the safety climate of a fire department, has been developed by researchers from Drexel’s Dornsife School of Public Health, according to a paper published today in the journal Safety Science.
A new safety scale, that effectively measures the safety climate of a fire department, has been developed by researchers from Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health, according to a paper published today in the journal Safety Science. The tool helps fire departments gauge their management and supervisor support for safety initiatives that prevent burnout, poor engagement and low job satisfaction – all attributes that many previous studies have shown can increase injuries and deaths in the line of duty.
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The safety scale is now a component of the larger Fire Service Organizational Culture of Safety survey (FOCUS) developed by the team. The group is based in the Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (FIRST), which is a national-leading research center at Drexel created to collect and analyze data for the United States Fire and Rescue Service.
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The safety climate assessment is available to any U.S. fire department here at no cost.
Additional authors on this research include Andrea L. Davis, Lauren J. Shepler, and Christian Resick of Drexel University; Carolyn Cannuscio of University of Pennsylvania; Jin Lee of Kansas State University; and Dov Zohar from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
This research was supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency FY 2011 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, Fire Prevention and Safety Grants.