Posture Evaluation of Firefighters During Simulated Fire Suppression Tasks

Area of Science:

• Occupational health and safety
• Ergonomics
• Firefighter science

Background:

• Firefighter musculoskeletal injuries are linked to posture during suppression tasks.
• Understanding biomechanics is crucial for injury prevention in this high-risk profession.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate firefighter postures during simulated fire suppression tasks using the Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System (OWAS).
• To identify ergonomic intervention priorities and assess associations between firefighter characteristics and posture risks.

Main Methods:

• The Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System (OWAS) was used to assess 48 firefighters across three simulated tasks: hose drag, hose pull, and high-rise pack lift.
• Wilcoxon signed-rank tests determined intervention priorities based on OWAS Action Classification (AC) scores.
• Chi-square analyses examined relationships between firefighter characteristics and OWAS AC scores.

Main Results:

• The initial hose pick-up phase presented a high risk for ergonomic intervention (OWAS AC=4) in over 45% of cases for all three tasks.
• A lower Body Mass Index (BMI) was significantly associated with higher OWAS AC scores during the initial hose pick-up in the high-rise pack lift task (p=0.01).

Conclusions:

• Findings highlight the need for ergonomic interventions focused on posture during specific phases of common firefighting tasks.
• Results provide a basis for developing targeted firefighter training programs to mitigate musculoskeletal injury risks.