Journal of Health and Safety at Work

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Introduction: Risk perception to safety and health is particularly important and affects behavior. Most of accidents occur because people do not have proper understanding about them. Accidents may be an important consequence of risk perception or, more precisely, an inaccurate perception of risk. Education has been always widely recognized as an important component of occupational risk management programs. The aim of this study was investigating the effect of an educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior on firefighters’ risk perception in operational units.
Material and Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial performed on 92 firefighters, in Rasht, in 2019. Cluster sampling method was carried out, and the firefighters were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups with equal numbers. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire with the three sections including demographic variables, risk perception, theory of planned behavior constructs. The educational program consisted of five sessions of 30-75 minutes for each group (six groups of 7-8 firefighters). The data were collected before and one month after educational intervention, and analyzed by Chi-square, independent and paired-sample T test, Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon using SPSS software version 21.
Results: The mean age of firefighters was 35.91±5.17 years, and no significant difference was observed between the two groups in demographic variables. Before the educational intervention, no significant difference was seen between the intervention and control groups in risk perception, the model constructs and self-report behaviors, but after performing the educational intervention the variables were significantly increased in the intervention group.
Conclusion: The current study results showed an improvement in firefighters’ risk perception due to educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior. Thus, the theory of planned behavior can be used as a theoretical framework for the design and implementation of firefighters’ risk perception.

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Introduction: Relief work is inherently associated with various stress-inducing factors due to the nature of the profession. Among relief-related professions, firefighters, due to the responsibilities related to firefighting and safety services, are exposed to various physical and chemical hazards. Therefore, the primary aim of this research was to compare the effect and practice retention, central and operational and skill-based stability over the balance of the firefighters with and without firefighting and rescue clothing and Hazardous Materials.
Material and Methods: The statistical population consisted of 5500 firefighters from the city of Tehran. As for the intervention, in the first group, central stability exercises, and in the second group, operational and skill-based exercises were performed by the firefighters during their shift days for a period of 6 weeks. The balance of the firefighters in both groups was measured at three stages: at the beginning of the intervention, immediately after the 6-week training period, and one month after the end of the training. The “Y Balance” board was used to assess the firefighters’ balance. Data analysis was performed using repeated measures analysis of variance and the Bonferroni post hoc test at a 5% significance level, using version 26 of the SPSS software.
Results: According to the results of this study, the balance of firefighters in both the right and left legs was significantly greater in the operational and skill-based training group compared to the central stability training group, both immediately after training and one month later (p < 0.05). With performing operational and skill-based training, right leg balance in the rescue suit was significantly higher than in the fire protection and hazmat suits (p < 0.05), while there was no significant difference between the fire protection and hazmat suits (p > 0.05). Left leg balance in the rescue suit was significantly higher than in both the fire protection and hazmat suits, and balance in the fire protection suit was significantly higher than in the hazmat suit (p < 0.05). Additionally, firefighters’ balance significantly improved after balance training (p < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the balance measured one month after training and immediately after training (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: In addition to the fact that core stability exercises particularly task specific functional training are effective in improving balance and preventing injuries, the retention of these effects over time should be taken into account.