Survey Study On The Occupational Health And Logistical Support Conditions In Fire Stations Of Public Security

BackgroundA series of occupational health standards have been published since the Code of Occupational Disease Prevention of PRC was enforced.However,these standards can not meet the need for protecting firefighters' occupational health completely.Standards related to protecting firefighters' occupational health shall be drafted as soon as possible.This study is aimed to provide data for drafting the standard on occupational health for firefighters.ObjectiveTo describe the basic information of fire stations and firefighters.To describe the conditions of occupational health management,the occupational hazards the firefighters exposed to,the protective equipments,firefighters' occupational health status and firefighters' occupational health demands.To describe the living conditions,the medical services,firefighters' vacation and firefighters' demands for logistical support.MethodA triple stage,stratified,radom,cluster sampling was adopted.The survey data were described and analysed according to the groups devided by the areas and the fire station types respectively.Laws,standards,references related to occupational health were used to evaluate the survey data.Results58 fire stations and 1638 firefighters were surveyed.Firefighters were aged 16.34～36.51, the median and interquartile range were 21.17 and(19.68～24.02) years respectively.The working age was ranged from 0.12 to 17.81 years,the median and interquartile range were 2.37 and(1.12～4.74) years respectively.Firefighters were mainly graduated from high school(56.59%) and they were mainly compulsory servicemen(44.87%) and petty-officers(46.40%).The occupational hazards the firefighters exposed to included chemical factors,physics factors,ergonomic factors,psychological factors,and other factors.Fire smoke,leaked chemical substances,heat stress,thermal radiation,and workplace noise were the hazards the firefighters often exposed to.Some personal protective equipments and detective equipments were provided to firefighters.The median and interquartile range of firefighters' total responses were 15 and(7～30) per month respectively(the median,east aera＞middle aera＞west aera,P＜0.05).80.28%of the firefighters were injured,the incidence rate was 0.52 per person-year(east aera＞middle aera,P＜0.0001,middle aera＞west aera,P＜0.0001,normal service station＞special service station,P=0.0005) 64.13%of the injuries occurred on training.Sprain and strain,skin wound,cut were the three main types of injuries.The occupational health surveillance work was nonstandard. Only 3.85%of the firefighters knew the Code of Occupational Disease Prevention of PRC. Training on Self-and mutual-rescue,psychological health knowledge,occupational hazards and protective measures were the firefighters' main demands for occupational health.More than 60%of the firefighters considered the dining rooms,indoor training-rooms, washrooms,and tiolets can meet their need,about 50%of the firefighters considered the washrooms should add showers.22.41%of the fire stations did not have the clinics,the medical corpsmen flew frequently.The actual vacation days for firefighters were fewer than the expected.Timely treat for the common ailments and acute injuries were the firefighters' main demands for logistical support.ConclusionThe occupational hazards the firefighters exposed to have the character of diversity, complexity,and undeterminacy.The basic medical service level of the fire stations is very low.Occpational health surveillance for firefighters are backward.The occupational health training should be strengthened as soon as possible.Injuries are mainly occurred on training.Musculoskeletal injuries are the main types.The dormitories,bathrooms, washrooms,tiolets,and coatrooms basically met the Standard on City Fire Station Construction and the Hygienic Standard for the Design of Industrial Enterprises.Fire departments should set up the occupational health management organizations or agencies staffed with full-time or part-time medical professionals and established the management systems.The Code of Occupational Disease Prevention of PRC and the correlative knowledges should be popularized.The occupational health surveillance should be carried out normatively.Musculoskeletal injuries should be the key points to be prevented.Daily training should be scientific and reasonable.The records for the injuries should be set up or improved.When the fire stations would be rebulided,the hygienic indexes for anxiliary rooms could be higher than the Hygienic Standard for the Design of Industrial Enterprises.