Regional risks of occupational injuries and death of personnel of the Federal Firefighting Service of the Emercom of Russia (2006–2020)

Introduction. A high level of tension of physical and psychophysiological reserves of an organism which firefighters are exposed to probably contributes to the occurrence of erroneous actions and injuries. Occupational injuries are an indicator of the safety of activity, it cannot be excluded completely, injuries can only be minimized.

The purpose of this article is to carry out a qualitative assessment of the occupational risks of injuries and death of personnel, employees with special ranks, and workers of the Federal Firefighting Service (FFS) of the Emercom of Russia in federal districts and regions of Russia.

Methods. Over the 15 years (2006–2020) 3,758 injuries in the performance of official duties were recorded considering the personnel of the Federal Firefighting Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, 224 of them were fatal. The risk of occupational injuries was calculated per 10 thousand (10–4) people, the risk of death was calculated per 100 thousand (10–5). Optimal risk was considered to be those indicators that were 1/3 less than the average for the FFS of the EMERCOM of Russia, increased — more than 1/3, acceptable — with intermediate values.

Results and discussion. The average annual risk of occupational injuries of the personnel of the FFS of the EMERCOM
of Russia was (14.66 ± 2.01) ∙ 10–4 injuries/(person per   year). The optimal risk of injuries was in the Siberian Federal District and in 24 regions of Russia, increased — in the Far Eastern, North Caucasus Federal District and in 23 regions, acceptable — in other federal districts and regions. The average annual risk of death of the personnel of the FFS of the EMERCOM of Russia was (8.53 ± 1.00) ∙ 10–5 deaths/(person ∙ year). The optimal risk of death was in the Siberian Federal District and in 35 regions of Russia, elevated — in the North Caucasus Federal District and in 19 regions, acceptable — in other federal districts and regions.

Conclusions. It is necessary to take into account and analyze all cases of occupational injuries with the participation of chiefs, occupational safety specialists, engineers, firefighters and doctors in order to develop measures to prevent them.

1. Gammarano R. Quick guide on sources and uses of statistics on occupational safety and health. International Labour Organization. Geneva, 2020; 39.

2. Takala J., Hämäläinen P., Nenonen N., Takahashi K., Chimed-Ochir O., Rantanen J. Comparative analysis of the burden of injury and illness at work in selected countries and regions. Central European Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2017; 23(1-2):6-31.

3. Takala J., Hämäläinen P., Saarela K.L., Yun L.Y., Manickam K., Jin T.W. et al. Global Estimates of the Burden of Injury and Illness at Work in 2012. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. 2014; 11(5):326-337. DOI: 10.1080/15459624.2013.863131

4. Hämäläinen P., Takala J., Boon Kiat T. Global Estimates of Occupational Accidents and Work-related Illnesses 2017. Singapore, Workplace Safety and Health Institute, 2017; 20.

5. Safety and healthat the heart of the futureof work: Building on 100 years of experience. Geneva, International Labour Organization, 2019; 82.

6. Bukhtiyarov I.V., Bobrov A.F., Denisov E.I., Eremin A.L., Kur’erov N.N., Losik T.K. et al. Occupational risk assessment methods and their information support. Hygiene and Sanitation, Russian Journal. 2019; 98(12):1327-1330. DOI: 10.18821/0016-9900-2019-98-12-1327-1330 (rus).

7. Bukhtiyarov I.V., Izmerov N.F., Tikhonova G.I., Churanova A.N. Occupational injuries as a criterion of professional risk. Studies on Russian Economic Development. 2017; 28(5):568-574. URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=32236999 (rus).

8. Dolbik-Vorobej T.A., Churilova E.Yu. Occupational injuries in Russia (statistical analysis). Financial Business. 2021; 12:24-30. (rus).

9. Meshkov N.A., Bukhtiyarov I.V., Valtseva E.A. Occupational risk factors and physical condition of firefighters. Russian Journal of Occupational Health and Industrial Ecology. 2020; 60(10):658-673. DOI: 10.31089/1026-9428-2020-60-10-658-673 (rus).

10. Hong O., Chin D.L., Phelps S., Vogel S. Occupational injuries, duty status, and factors associated with injuries among firefighters. Workplace Health Safety. 2012; 60(12):517-523. DOI: 10.1177/216507991206001203

11. Phelps S.M., Drew-Nord D.C., Neitzel R.L., Wallhagen M.I., Bates M.N., Hong O.S. Characteristics and predictors of occupational injury among career firefighters. Workplace Health Safety. 2018; 66(6):291-301. DOI: 10.1177/2165079917740595

12. Szubert Z., Sobala W. Work-related injuries among firefighters: sites and circumstances of their occurrence. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. 2002; 15(1):49-55.

13. Orr R., Simas V., Canetti E., Schram B. A profile of injuries sustained by firefighters: A critical review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(2):3931. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16203931

14. Brushlinsky N.N., Ahrens M., Sokolov S.V., Wagner P. World of Fire Statistics : Report. Center of Fire Statistics of CTIF. 2016–2021. URL: http://www.ctif.org

15. Evdokimov V.I., Bobrinev E.V., Kondashov A.A., Pankratov Н.А., Vetoshkin A.A., Loktionov P.V. Analysis of occupational injury and mortality of personnel of the Federal Fire Service of the EMERCOM of Russia (2006–2020) : monograph. St. Petersburg, Izmajlovskij Publ., 2022; 138 (rus).

16. Kahn S.A., Leonard C., Lee Y.G., Boatwright R., Flamm T., Woods J. A pilot survey of Southeastern firefighters: Safety practices, use of protective gear, and injury. Burns. 2020. 46(2):298-302. DOI: 10.1016/j.burns.2019.03.012

17. Marsh S.M., Gwilliam M., Konda S., Tiesman H., Fahy R. Nonfatal Injuries to Firefighters Treated in U.S. Emergency Departments, 2003–2014. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2018; 55(3):353-360. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.04.051

18. Evdokimov V.I., Bobrinev E.V., Kondashov A.A., Pankratov Н.А., Vetoshkin A.A., Loktionov P.V. Occupational injuries in categories of personnel of Federal Fire Service of EMERCOM of Russia (2006–2020). Medicо-Biological and Socio-Psychological Problems of Safety in Emergency Situations 2022; (1):41-51. DOI: 10.25016/2541-7487-2022-0-1-41-51 (rus).

19. Evdokimov V.I., Bobrinev E.V., Kondashov A.A., Gudz Yu.V., Magdanov D.F., Pankratov H.A. Analysis of risks of fatalities among personnel of Federal firefighting service of EMERCOM of Russia in 2006–2020. Disaster medicine. 2022; 3:17-23. DOI: 10.33266/2070-1004-2022-17-23 (rus).

20. Evdokimov V.I., Bobrinev E.V., Kondashov A.A., Udavtsova E.Yu. Regional risks of occupational injuries and death of the personnel of operational units of the EMERCOM of Russia (2012–2021). Problems of Technosphere Risk Management. 2022; 4:62-72. URL: https://elibrary.ru/aenwtp (rus).

21. Mashtakov V.A., Kondashov A.A., Bobrinev E.V., Shavyrina T.A., Udavtsova E.Yu. Study of death and injury risks dynamics of the Federal fire-fighting service personnel using time series smoothing. Safety of Technogenic and Natural Systems. 2022; 3:4-11. DOI: 10.23947/2541-9129-2022-3-4-11 (rus).