Research Projects

Dr. Joseph Allen

Occupational Injury Prevention 

Jennifer Taylor, PhD, MPH, CPPS, of the Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (FIRST) at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University and Chief Richard Marinucci, Executive Director of the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) are proud to announce receipt of a $1.5 million grant from the Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

This collaboration responds to FEMA's national prevention priorities on firefighter safety projects "designed to measurably change firefighter behavior and decision-making." The Fire service Organizational Culture of Safety (FOCUS) survey was developed and disseminated by the FIRST Center under previous FEMA FP&S grants as the first fire service-specific safety culture assessment tool. Safety climate is a robust predictor of occupational injuries and organizational outcomes such as burnout, job satisfaction, and engagement.

This funding will extend the scope of FOCUS by allowing FIRST and FDSOA to partner with state Workers' Compensation Bureaus (WCBs) to explore models of scale-up and utility so that all US states and territories will ultimately be served. The implementation of FOCUS by fire departments covered by each state's WCB will evaluate the impact on injury and well-being claims as well as explore premium reductions for participants.

FIRST and FDSOA are collaborating with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Division of Safety and Hygiene and the Washington State Labor and Industries Division of Workers' Compensation Insurance, Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) program. Departments participating in the pilot will receive a FOCUS survey assessment and then participate in a FOCUS Culture Camp to develop data competency. Forty departments per state will be assessed over two years. In Washington state, the collaboration will be responsive to the Fire Injury and Illness Reduction (FIIRE) safety initiative, which provides a discount for Washington fire departments with workers' compensation coverage from the State Fund.

In addition, the FIRST Center will launch an online FOCUS Culture Camp to serve fire departments from around the nation who have already completed a FOCUS survey assessment and are on the waiting list for the training.