BY RICHARD MARINUCCI
Almost every career fire department has some downtime where the firefighters are free to do as they please. This can be relaxing, watching television, sleeping, or a variety of other activities. Most of these activities involve little physical activity and pose very little risk to the firefighters. On occasion, firefighters engage in activities that have the potential to injure, although they are not usually considered dangerous. Every once in a while, something goes wrong and a firefighter is injured doing something that has nothing to do with being a firefighter.
Over the years, firefighters have been injured playing sports (football, basketball, for example), horsing around, doing maintenance on personal items, and even cooking food. An activity that could be considered part of the job, physical fitness or exercise, has also caused injuries. This can raise the interest of people outside the fire service, especially workers’ compensation carriers. Regardless, many people can think of a case where a firefighter was injured but not while responding to an emergency or when engaged in firefighting or in training.
THE PROBLEM SCENARIO
While washing his personal vehicle late one evening, a firefighter slipped on the wet floor. His head hit the ground and opened a wound, and he also badly sprained his ankle. Your crew treated him and transported him to the emergency room, where the wound was closed with stitches and the ankle was confirmed to be badly sprained. The firefighter will not be able to return to work for at least four weeks. You receive notice at the time of the accident and drive to the station to investigate. What will you do when you arrive at the station?
On arrival at the station, your first and only concern must be the condition of your employee. You need to find out how he is doing. Your personnel should be able to tell you the seriousness of the injuries. If they are anything but minor, you should go directly to the hospital. Although this is the most important thing, you will still need to initiate an investigation because your role is to determine what exactly happened. If you are going to the hospital, you first need to leave instructions to those left behind to document the scene with photos and gather any potential evidence and witness statements.
While on the way to the hospital, you should notify your boss that someone has been injured and that you are going to check on his status. Since you really don’t know anything about this incident yet, refrain from making any comments. You will most likely be asked questions, but until you have a clear idea as to what may have occurred, you should not inject any of your personal thoughts or intuitions.
Once things have settled down a little, you will need to turn your attention to the investigation. You need to gather the facts. Get statements from anyone who could be considered a witness, including the injured party. This case will most likely be straightforward. However, be aware that cases involving some type of horseplay may not generate “factual” information. It is important to get separate statements soon after the event and then to compare the content. Document the scene with photos and a sketch.
You must have a procedure regarding injuries and what steps you need to take. Fortunately, most organizations do not have a high frequency of injuries. As a result, your members may not be up to speed on what is required regarding reporting. A detailed procedure will guide people through the necessary process that will require certain forms to be completed for insurance purposes and possible workers’ compensation claims. Good procedures also help to identify problems and keep them from being repeated. Design the process so that it protects the interests of both the employee and employer.
In this case, you can expect a challenge related to eligibility as a workers’ compensation claim. Even though the incident occurred at the workplace, it is not a guarantee that there will not be a challenge to the payout. Because this is a gray area, you should have a good plan of action. More than likely, this type of activity has been part of the job for a very long time. Past practice would indicate that it is acceptable. You may even have a policy or written document approving of this practice. Anything that you have will be important to plead your case.
More than likely, your biggest challenge will be to remain neutral and report only the facts as they are presented to you. You may want to defend your personnel or take the opposite approach and declare that this is not compensable. Unless you are the final say, just stick to the facts and follow the procedure.
This case may have a few things that make it different. Have you had other issues with the floor, indicating that it is more slippery than it should be? Is there a written policy that allows this practice? What can you expect from your workers’ compensation carrier? Do you have any past incidents that may have set a precedent? Obviously, doing personal work is not directly related to the firefighters’ job responsibilities. However, whether an injury occurring at the workplace is considered job-related is often a gray area. Ultimately, the decision may not lie within your department.
Assuming there are minimum work restrictions and department policies, you can offer a light duty assignment. Make sure you have the appropriate paperwork from the doctor that lists any restrictions. You will also need to factor in any rehabilitation visits that may be needed. Your goal is to continue to get contributions from your employee and also to get him back to his firefighting position as soon as possible. In the meantime, you will most likely be creating a scheduling problem and some staffing challenges.
As for follow-up, consider anything that can be done to minimize the slip hazard. Also look at your policy regarding permitting nonfire service or job-related activities. It may be tempting to ban everything, but take your time and be reasonable about it. This can be challenging, as the fire service culture regarding use of downtime is different from most other occupations. You may not get much support from your boss or other municipal employees who do not believe that anything other than business should be taking place.
Injuries to firefighters can happen while doing the job and potentially while engaged in other activities. With 24-hour shifts providing time to do many things, firefighters will look to keep themselves busy. Some will be active; others will be passive. Any activity has the potential to cause an injury. Some activities are riskier than others. Firefighters have been injured playing football on duty, among other things. There have also been cases where the actual cause of the injury did not match that listed on the official report. As chief, you have the responsibility to look out for your employees and for the good of the organization. This can be a challenging balancing act. Report the facts as you know them, do what is permitted, and hope for the best outcome.
● RICHARD MARINUCCI is chief of the Northville Township (MI) Fire Department, Previously, he was chief of the Farmington Hills (MI) Fire Department. He was president of the IAFC (1997/98) and acting chief operating officer of the USFA (1999). He has bachelor’s degrees from Western Michigan University, Madonna College, and the University of Cincinnati. He is an adjunct faculty member of Eastern Michigan University and Maryland Staff and Command.
