Economic Consequences of Firefighter Injuries and Their Prevention. Final Report.
Economic Consequences of Firefighter Injuries and Their
Prevention. Final Report.
(2465 K)
TriData Corporation
NIST GCR 05-874; 68 p. March 2005.
Sponsor:
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD
Keywords:
fire fighters; injuries; fire prevention; fire data;
costs; methodology; fire statistics; motor vehicle
accidents; fire safety; cigarettes; insurance
Abstract:
Every occupation brings degrees of safety risk, and one
of the higher risk jobs is firefighting. At the scene or
on the way to a fire, a multiple vehicle crash, an
explosion, or even while training, firefighters face a
relatively high chance of being injured, possibly
killed. The National Institute of Science and Technology
historically has been concerned with the risks to
firefighters, and has devoted research to finding ways
that reduce the incidence and severity of work-related
firefighter injuries. In this latest research effort,
NIST seeks to quantify the economic impact that injuries
have to firefighters, their departments, the insurance
industry, and society. TriData Corporation of Arlington,
Virginia, a public safety consulting company, conducted
the cost-of-injury research and wrote this report. The
research team culled information from a broad search of
literature and examined various methodological
approaches for insight into models that could be used to
calculate the many components that comprise financial
losses from injury. Though several previous studies
successfully investigated certain aspects of what
fires cost, each had limitations, and many dealt broadly
with the cost of fire, not the costs of firefighter
injuries. Studies of injury-related data, on the other
hand, were helpful but did not usually address
occupational injuries. When they did, costs were not
necessarily a key factor of
the research. The study team derived estimates,
therefore, using elements of other methods and
calculating costs from original research as well. Based
on methods applied from two of the more relevant
economic studies, the estimated cost of addressing
firefighter injuries and of efforts to prevent them is
$2.8 to $7.8 billion per year. The cost elements that
comprised those two studies were based on workers
compensation payments and other insured medical
expenses, including long-term care; lost productivity;
administrative costs of insurance; and others.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899