The culture around safety in any organization is a strong predictor of organizational and safety outcomes. Safety climate is the measurable aspect of organizational safety culture and has been used by other industries such as healthcare, construction, and manufacturing to gauge and improve safety performance. This session will introduce participants to the
FOCUS survey, a fire service-specific tool used by over 500 fire departments and 60,000 firefighters to measure their organization’s commitment to safety through a partnership with the FDSOA. FOCUS is a reliable and valid instrument funded by FEMA and developed by the
Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (FIRST) at Drexel University. There are two dimensions to FOCUS: Management Commitment and Supervisor Support, both of which reflect memberships’ perceptions of their superiors’ commitment to safety. In addition to these, other validated scales are included (burnout, work engagement, and job satisfaction) so that organizational outcomes can be measured in conjunction with safety outcomes. FOCUS has a negative relationship with injury rates and burnout, and a positive relationship with job satisfaction, work engagement, and safety behaviors. Success stories from fire departments who have used the resultant FOCUS data to advocate for safety needs will be shared. Come learn how to use FOCUS to get what you need.
Interested in assessing with FOCUS? Please attend our session, find our booth, or email Senior Project Manager, Andrea Davis aly25@drexel.edu. Survey Materials, Data Analysis, and your personalized Safety Culture Report expenses are covered on behalf of the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
