Protecting firefighters from heat and elevated temperatures to allow them to move far into a fire is ideal, especially when it comes to saving lives. However, heat is not the only danger that firefighters face in the course of their job. Protecting them from the heat comes as the main issue firefighters face as there are numerous risks involved. Addressing the heat issue does not deal with the chemical problem that is associated with some of the combustion products such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and nitrogen dioxide. According to OSHA, firefighters suffer from hypoxia due to oxygen depletion (Salar, Capanoglu, Sherman, Sesek, & Davis, 2017). Moving to dangerous situations increases the risk of hypoxia and hence the loss of performance and inability to escape. The risk of chemical harm is higher among those who enter the building during a fire incident. The protection is also challenging because it does not solve the ergonomic risk faced by firefighters. The weight of the equipment and other personal protective equipment may be a problem for firefighters when they have to move far into dangerous situations in case of a fire. The strenuous work they have to do wearing heavy equipment can lead to physical harm on the firefighter and the inability to save himself or herself in case of danger. Heat protection does not help in dealing with the risk of falls from heights that are common among firefighters. Entering a dangerous situation also poses a risk of being hit by falling objects hidden from the visibility of the firefighter (Salar et al., 2017). Consequently, fires can also cause some dangerous situations according to OSHA, such as sudden ignition of products creating a flashover or a backdraft after the introduction of air in a superheated and oxygen-starved area. In some instances, entering dangerous situations can cause psychological effects on a firefighter.
References
Salar, M., Capanoglu, M. F., Sherman, A., Sesek, R. F., & Davis, J. (2017). Training related risk factors of firefighters. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 1844-1847). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
