Injury reporting FAQs

Who must report?

• Which fire protection "entities" must report fire fighter injuries?
• Who should report an injury when a fire fighter gets hurt working outside of his or her assigned duties?

What kinds of injuries should we report?

• Should fire departments report even minor injuries?
• What is the difference between a minor and a major (i.e., serious, critical or fatal) injury?

Inquiries and investigations

• Does the commission follow up after the department reports an injury?
• What is the difference between an inquiry and an investigation?
• What is an "investigable" injury?
• Are there certain activities that trigger inquiries or investigations?
• What information does the commission look for when conducting an inquiry, and why?
• Why do you include "date placed in service" in the inquiry information for PPE?
• If the commission finds that an injury requires an investigation, what should a department do?

Return to work

• Why does the injury reporting system require an "anticipated" return-to-work date?
• How do we know when a volunteer is back to work from a lost time injury?
• Did our fire fighter miss work?

Reporting – general questions

• What are the criteria for closing an injury report?
• If we forgot to submit a report should we report it now?
• Why are you requesting that we complete a report every quarter even if we have no injuries?

Who must report?

• Which fire protection "entities" must report fire fighter injuries?

  Texas Government Code, §419.048 , which took effect Sept. 1, 2009, requires all fire protection entities in Texas to report injuries to the commission. (Please also see the commission's Standards Manual for Fire Protection Personnel, §435.23 .)

  Historically, the Texas Legislature has restricted the commission's enforcement authority to paid fire protection entities and paid personnel. However, the legislation that created the injury reporting requirement does not make a clear distinction between volunteer and paid entities, as in other commission-related statutes. §419.048 (c) states, "The commission shall evaluate information and data on fire protection personnel injuries and develop recommendations for reducing fire protection personnel injuries."

  The commission interprets this to mean all fire protection personnel injuries.

• Who should report an injury when a fire fighter gets hurt working outside of his or her assigned duties?

  If an individual is working in his or her assigned role as a fire department employee at the time of the injury, the fire department should report the injury. If an individual is not serving in his or her primary departmental role at the time of the injury, the facility at which the injury occurs should submit the report. (The most common example of this is when a fire fighter is attending a training course as an individual).

What kinds of injuries should we report?

• Should fire departments report even minor injuries?

  A fire department should report all injuries. If the department’s chain of command knows of an injury, the department should report the injury to the commission.

  Fire departments must report minor injuries within 30 business days of the injury event.

  Fire departments must report major injuries (serious/critical/fatal) within five (5) business days of the injury event.

• What is the difference between a "minor" injury and a "major" (i.e., serious/critical/fatal) injury?

  Minor injuries are injuries that do not result in the fire fighter missing more than one full duty period.

  Major injuries (i.e., serious/critical/fatal) are those that require the fire fighter to miss more than one full duty period. (See Definitions - Missed Work).

Inquiries and investigations

• When would the commission follow up with a department after the department reports an injury?

  The commission's injury reporting staff may contact either the person who entered the report or the department’s designated contact person for clarifications or additional information. We want to ensure that the commission has a clear understanding of the injury. The more accurate the information we receive, the better the reporting and analysis.

• What is the difference between an inquiry and an investigation?

  An inquiry is a non-punitive gathering of additional information on the reported incident for statistical purposes.

  An investigation is a non-punitive compliance inspection directed primarily at determining the circumstances of the injury. In general, the commission's compliance officer will inspect the injured individual's PPE and other items related to fire fighter safety mandates. (See form TCFP-066, Compliance Inspection Guide .)

• What is an "investigable" injury?

  Investigable injuries are injuries that involve a failure or malfunction of protective equipment resulting in an injury.

  Investigable injuries are injuries that result from:

  • Failure or malfunction of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
  • Failure of personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • Failure to comply with commission-mandated department standard operating procedures (SOPs). (See form TCFP-066, Compliance Inspection Guide .)

  Regardless of the severity of the injury, a department must report investigable injuries within five business days.

• Are there certain activities that trigger inquiries or investigations?

  • Burns.
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) malfunctions or failures.
  • Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) malfunctions or failures.
  • Personal alert safety system (PASS) device malfunctions or failures.
  • Failure to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs):
    • SOP for Protective Clothing Use, Selection, Care and Maintenance – §435.1 (3).
    • SOP for SCBA Use, Selection, Care and Maintenance – §435.3 (8).
    • SOP for PASS Use, Selection, Care and Maintenance SOP – §435.9 .
    • SOP for Incident Management System – §435.11 .
    • SOP for Personnel Accountability System (may be part of the Incident Management System SOP) – §435.13 .
    • SOP for Operating at Emergency Incidents (may be part of the Incident Management System SOP) – §435.15 .
    • SOP for Interior Structural Fire Fighting (2-In/2-Out Rule) – §435.17 .
    • SOP for Wellness-Fitness Initiative – §435.21 .
  • Skills training activities.
  • Wellness/fitness activities.
  • Respiratory issues (e.g., smoke inhalation).
  • Critical or fatal injuries.

• What information does the commission look for when conducting an inquiry, and why?

  The commission will seek information about the PPE or other components of the gear in use in order to track injury trends involving these items. (Please e-mail follow-up information to the commission’s injury reporting specialist.) In general, the commission will look for the following information on the PPE:

  • Brand and/or manufacturer.
  • Manufactured date.
  • Serial number.
  • Model number.
  • Date placed in service.
  • Any information on advanced cleaning and inspection, if applicable.
  • Final disposition of PPE (e.g., in service, replaced).
  • Digital photographs of the involved PPE components, showing all views (all sides, interior and exterior, etc.) as well as the NFPA-compliant labeling.
  • Digital photographs of the injury itself (if available). Please do not include any views of the individual or identifying marks.

• Why do you include "date placed in service" in the inquiry information for PPE?

  The commission uses this information to track inspection of the gear throughout its lifespan.

• If the commission finds that an injury requires an investigation, what should a department do?

  The regulated entity must secure any PPE involved in the injury. The department must secure any damaged PPE and make it readily available for the commission investigators. The department should store and treat the damaged PPE in a manner which retains its validity for investigation. (In other words, do not secure or store it in a manner that will alter its condition in any way.)

  The commission's compliance personnel will contact the department directly. The fire department must provide the commission with a primary point of contact for the department, as well as contact information for any department personnel assigned to the investigation.

Return to work

• Why does the injury reporting system require an "anticipated return-to-work date"?

  Reporting entities should not feel compelled to ascertain an exact date. A reasonable approximation is acceptable. We use this date as a follow-up tool to ensure accurate statistical data.

• How do we know when a volunteer is back to work from a lost time injury?

  When the volunteer fire fighter can perform the duties required by the department prior to the injury, the department should report that the volunteer is "back to regular duty."

• Did our fire fighter miss work?

  For injury reporting purposes, the commission defines missed work as "lost time" when an individual misses more than one full duty period as a direct result of an injury. Lost time includes time during which the individual does not return to the duties to which the department assigned the individual prior to the injury.

  Example: an individual who sustained an injury returns to work on their normally assigned duty period, but the department temporarily assigns the individual to modified or light duty (temporary) rather than their normal, pre-injury duty. This person has sustained a lost time injury.

  A duty period may be a 24-hour shift, an eight-hour shift, or anything in between.

  Since fire departments often do not schedule fire protection personnel for 8-5 shifts, here is an example of not missing work: An individual is working a 24-on/48-off rotating shift schedule with a shift change at 0700 hours. The individual sustains an injury at 1500 hours and leaves for the remainder of the shift. The individual reports back to full duty at his next scheduled shift (at 0700) and completes his normal duty assignment. For reporting purposes, this individual has NOT missed work.

  If, on the other hand, this individual does not return for their next scheduled shift, they have sustained a lost time injury.

  If this same individual does not return to work due to a previously scheduled vacation, Kelly day, etc., but returns to work following the scheduled time off, he or she has NOT sustained a lost time injury.

Reporting – general questions

• What are the criteria for closing an injury report?

  The commission staff will close an injury report when:

  • The injury is minor.
  • The incident does not result in an inquiry or investigation.
  • An individual involved in a serious or critical injury returns to duty OR leaves the department.
  • The commission completes an inquiry or investigation.

• If we forgot to submit a report should we report it now?

  Yes.

• Why are you requesting that we complete a report every quarter even if we have no injuries?

  • The commission must show the legislature that the fire service is complying with the law.
  • The quarterly reports help track how many entities are having injuries versus how many are not.
  • Identifying entities that are not having injuries could help us understand what they are doing to prevent them.