Staffing Issues Surrounding Injuries

Lost time due to injuries, as we’ve been discussing this month, forces your departments to examine their staffing policies and practices.  With today’s blog post we hope to provide you with some food for thought surrounding staffing issues.

Staffing Models

Overstaffing vs. Constant Staffing

Nowadays, most departments can’t afford to follow the overstaffing model where they employ enough firefighters to cover an injured firefighter’s shift without incurring overtime cost.  Today, most departments are forced to follow a constant staffing model, meaning when a firefighter is injured another firefighter will have to work overtime to cover.  This model, while saving the department money up front, can be costly in the end.

Making Staffing Projections to Cover Lost Time

According to the Fire Protection Handbook, 19^th ed (vol. 1, pgs 7-21 to 7-24) there are many factors to consider when staffing your departments.  “Staffing levels for fire departments vary considerably and are influenced by such things as the population protected, population density, firefighters’ work hours per week, response distances, and fire fighter safety” (pg 7-21).

Your department needs to assess your situation to determine the amount of staffing you need. 

Some issues to consider:

• Staffing below four firefighters, including an officer, may compromise fire ground effectiveness. 
• Whether or not your department runs EMS.
• Your area’s population and types of structures.
• Whether or not mutual aid is called on-demand or pre-scheduled.

For interior structural firefighting, NFPA 1500 and OSHA recommend that for firefighter safety four firefighters, including an officer, be staffed before an interior attack is commenced.  

Staffing Calculations Example for 3 Shift department (With Minimum Manning Policy)

Firefighter (365 days x 24 hours)		= 8760 hours per year
Annual Leave
Vacation	09 days x 24 hrs	= 216 hours per year
Kelly Days	18 days x 24 hrs	= 432 hours per year
Sick Time	06 days x 24 hrs	= 144 hours per year
Training	02 days x 24 hrs	= 48   hours per year
Other Leave	03 days x 24 hrs	=72   hours per year
Total	38 days	=912 hours per year

8760 hrs per year/ 3 shifts = 2920 total hrs for one employee

2920 total hrs for one employee – 912 leave hrs per year = 2008 working hrs

8760 hrs per year/ 2008 working hours = 4.36 relief factor

4.36 relief factor x 3 shift positions = 13.08 required personnel

The 4.36 staffing factor is a product of the required staffing time 24 hours per day times 365 days a year.  This is derived from the number of hours in a year subtracting the estimated time off due to sick, vacation, PTO, injury, etc (as defined by NFPA).  Consequently the 4.36 staffing factor would be what is required to fill 1 seat on a vehicle on a 24 hour basis to meet minimum manning requirements for the year. Then the minimum staffing per unit would be multiplied by the staffing factor to come up with the total staffing required to account for all time away from work, for example if an engine company is staffed with a minimum of 3 personnel, it would take (3 * 4.36) 13.08 personnel to fill those 3 seats for the year.

Staffing Resources

• NFPA Fire Protection Handbook, 19^th ed. (Available for borrowing by local users from the TCFP Library)
• Fire Department Staffing: A Need, Not a Want (Fire Engineering, 2009)
• Staffing Studies (The TCFP Library has a collection of staffing studies that can be useful to you for planning, but also for bringing to policy-makers at budget time.)
• NFPA 1500 Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program
• NFPA 1710 Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments
• NFPA 1720 Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations and Special Operations to the Public by Volunteer Fire Departments

How are these staffing issues and models affected by injuries in your departments? 

Does your department’s staffing model cover injured firefighters, or is your department left scrambling?

How do you communicate budget and response time issues to your constituents and higher ups?