Understanding what factors affect firefighter use of site-specific risk information

Abstract

Fire services have a responsibility to record information regarding known hazards for sites posing unique and substantial risks. Such information is important, both for informing service planning, and for supporting the development of situational awareness and decision-making during emergency response. However, public inquiries and service inspections have raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of systems in place for recording, monitoring, and using site-specific risk information (SSRI). In contrast, a lack of research focus has been directed toward the use of SSRI, limiting the evidence base available for understanding the causes of these difficulties and how they may be addressed. The following study seeks to contribute to developing knowledge by examines what factors affect the use of SSRI across organisational levels and why. Interviews were conducted with 23 firefighters from operational and tactical roles in one region of the UK. Thematic analysis highlighted six key themes: (i) Differences in the use of SSRI across organisational levels, (ii) System accessibility, (iii) Content, (iv) Structure, (v) Quality, and (vi) Training. Findings indicate that SSRI use is affected by the relevance, structure, and quality of information, which are influenced by workload, training, guidance, and system accessibility. During emergency response, information requirements, time and cognitive capacity differ across organisational levels, influencing the extent to which barriers affect ability to use SSRI. The implications of findings are discussed in relation to informing future areas of applied cognition research, and fire sector decisions regarding the gathering and storage of SSRI.