Notice2024-11059
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Human Factors Considerations for the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program
Primary source
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Published
May 21, 2024
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Abstract
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in the Department of Health and Human Services, requests feedback about its Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) investigation and report process for traumatic injuries. NIOSH is interested in how human factors might be considered during investigations including but not limited to communication, team dynamics, psychological stress, and safety culture, and how these factors impact decision-making during responses. If applicable, information will be used to improve reporting templates and processes to provide a holistic lens into the causes and prevention of line-of- duty deaths (LODD).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 99 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44683-44684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11059]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Docket No. CDC-2024-0040, NIOSH-063-E]
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Human
Factors Considerations for the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and
Prevention Program
AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in the
Department of Health and Human Services, requests feedback about its
Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
investigation and report process for traumatic injuries. NIOSH is
interested in how human factors might be considered during
investigations including but not limited to communication, team
dynamics, psychological stress, and safety culture, and how these
factors impact decision-making during responses. If applicable,
information will be used to improve reporting templates and processes
to provide a holistic lens into the causes and prevention of line-of-
duty deaths (LODD).
DATES: Comments must be received by July 22, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted through either of the following
two methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>
(follow the
[[Page 44684]]
instructions for submitting comments), or
<bullet> By Mail: NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories,
MS C-34, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226-1998.
Instructions: All written submissions received in response to this
notice must include the agency name (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, HHS) and docket number (CDC-2024-0040, NIOSH-063-E) for
this action. All relevant comments, including any personal information
provided, will be posted without change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Haas, 626 Cochrans Mill Rd,
Pittsburgh, PA 15236; Telephone (412) 386-4627 (this is not a toll-free
number); Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a34333529323c13081f2e081b0f171b3a191e19541d150c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="511f181e021917382334052330243c30113235327f363e27">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NIOSH FFFIPP conducts independent
investigations of firefighter LODD and recommends ways to prevent
deaths and traumatic injuries. Since its inception in 1998, the NIOSH
FFFIPP has held periodic meetings with the fire service community and
interested parties to seek input about the program. These meetings have
been an important component of the program and are vital to ensure the
program is meeting the needs and expectations of those it serves. The
FFFIPP has posted the results of these periodic meetings on its website
at: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/abouttheprogram/ourworkreviewed/ourworkreviewed.html">https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/abouttheprogram/ourworkreviewed/ourworkreviewed.html</a>.
Input received from these meetings and from individuals has
emphasized the need to consider factors beyond the physical environment
in which response activities occur. As examples, effective
communication and team dynamics, psychological stress and resilience,
organizational leadership, and safety culture may impact decision-
making, task execution, and job performance. However, the FFFIPP
program serves as a public health effort; therefore, recommendations do
not and cannot enforce compliance with state or federal job safety and
health standards or determine fault or place blame on fire departments
or individual firefighters. The purpose of this request for information
(RFI) is to ascertain (1) the public's interest and need for NIOSH to
incorporate human factors considerations into LODD investigations; (2)
specific human factors elements that should be considered; (3) methods
that can be employed during investigations to collect, analyze, and
document this information through reliable quantitative and qualitative
approaches; and (4) ways to incorporate human factors findings and
recommendations into reports without placing blame on fire departments
or firefighters. Information related to human factors in LODD
investigations may include but is not limited to:
<bullet> Considerations around communication, including team dynamics
and leadership communication
<bullet> Potential for environmental elements to impact cognitive
function (e.g., distraction)
<bullet> Operational stressors to be considered
<bullet> Ways to retroactively assess emotional and psychological
stress
<bullet> Ways to retroactively assess physiological stress and
resilience (e.g., sleep deprivation and fatigue)
<bullet> Safety culture
<bullet> Components of risk profile narratives
<bullet> Organizational leadership practices
<bullet> Research needs and social science or psychological methods to
objectively collect this information
<bullet> Methods to integrate this information into reports without
placing blame (e.g., identifying systematic issues that drive or allow
behaviors, actions, and decisions)
LODD are complex events that are affected by many interdependent
factors. These considerations or factors might vary depending on
whether the fire department is serving a rural, urban, suburban, or
wildland-urban interface area; is career, volunteer, or combination;
and the work schedule and shifts of the responding firefighters. These
aspects, among others, can be recognized when responding with feedback.
NIOSH plans to review and assess the public comments and
information provided to determine how, if applicable, the FFFIPP could
be updated to incorporate human factors considerations into LODD
investigations. Additional information is available on the NIOSH
FFFIPP--About the Program Page (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/abouttheprogram/abouttheprogram.html">https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/abouttheprogram/abouttheprogram.html</a>). NIOSH will update this page and
investigation processes as necessary to be consistent with the
assessment of the information obtained from this RFI and other means of
information-gathering.
To reiterate, this RFI is intended to announce the opportunity for
the public to provide NIOSH with information about considerations and
approaches to assess human factors and, if applicable, inclusion in its
FFFIPP LODD investigation and reporting processes for traumatic
injuries. Information related to human factors and the fire service in
the following areas is especially desired: the need for this
information to be collected, specific human factors elements that
should be considered, social science and psychological methods that
could be employed during investigations, and objective reporting
recommendations.
John J. Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and
Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2024-11059 Filed 5-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
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