Citation

Taylor NA, Fullagar HH, Mott BJ, Sampson JA, Groeller H. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 2015; 57(10): 1063-1071.

Affiliation

Centre for Human and Applied Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia (Dr Taylor, Mr Fullagar, Dr Sampson, Dr Groeller); and Fire & Rescue New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Mr Mott).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/JOM.0000000000000525

PMID

26461861

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This communication is the first of four describing the development of defensible firefighter-selection tests. The purpose was to identify a subset of essential, physically demanding tasks performed by contemporary urban firefighters.

METHODS: From existing procedural documentation and job analyses, 11 fire-station visits and interviews with 106 firefighters, and one focus-group meeting, 31 physically demanding tasks were identified and incorporated into a workforce survey. Using this tool, firefighters rated the importance, perceived difficulty, typical task durations, and annual performance frequency of each task.

RESULTS: Data from 989 respondents were analyzed, enabling a consolidation of these tasks into a subset of essential activities.

CONCLUSIONS: These processes yielded a content-valid list of 15 essential, physically demanding tasks covering the full width of duties performed by urban firefighters from Australia's largest fire and rescue organization.

Language: en