The US Forest Service Life First safety initiative: exploring unnecessary exposure to risk
David Flores A * and Emily R. Haire B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, 240 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA.
B Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, B258 Clark Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
* Correspondence to: david.flores2@usda.gov
International Journal of Wildland Fire 31(10) 927-935 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF21099
Submitted: 14 July 2021 Accepted: 6 September 2022 Published: 7 October 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
In 2016, the US Forest Service initiated small-group safety discussions among members of its wildland firefighting organisation. Known as the Life First National Engagement Sessions, the discussions presented an opportunity for wildland firefighters to address systemic and cultural dysfunctions in the wildland fire system. The Life First initiative included a post-engagement survey in which more than 2600 Forest Service employees provided open-ended feedback. In that qualitative subset of results, survey respondents described four main situations in which wildland firefighters commonly accepted unnecessary exposure to risk, related to driving, mop up, aviation and communication. Findings reveal how firefighters experienced social, political and economic pressures upon and within the wildland fire system. They shared that these perceived pressures and their mission-oriented work culture interacted, transforming otherwise unremarkable work operations into situations of unnecessary exposure to risk.
Keywords: high reliability organisation, organisational culture, organisational learning, risk, safety, unnecessary exposure, US Forest Service, wildland firefighting.
References
Ambert A-M, Adler PA, Adler P, Detzner DF (1995) Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family 57, 879–893.| Understanding and evaluating qualitative research.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Barnett K, Miller C, Venn TJ (2016) Using risk analysis to reveal opportunities for the management of unplanned ignitions in wilderness. Journal of Forestry 114, 610–618.
| Using risk analysis to reveal opportunities for the management of unplanned ignitions in wilderness.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Berwick DM (2013) ‘Escape Fire: Designs for the Future of Health Care.’ (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, USA)
Black AE, Baldauf McBride B (2013) Safety climate in the US Federal Wildland Fire Management Community: influences of organisational, environmental, group and individual characteristics. Research Note RMRS-RN-55. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=WF12154 [verified 8 October 2020]
Bowen GA (2008) Naturalistic inquiry and the saturation concept: a research note. Qualitative Research 8, 137–152.
| Naturalistic inquiry and the saturation concept: a research note.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Calkin DE, Thompson MP, Finney MA (2015) Negative consequences of positive feedbacks in US wildfire management. Forest Ecosystems 2, 9
| Negative consequences of positive feedbacks in US wildfire management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Canton-Thompson J, Gebert KM, Thompson B, Jones G, Calkin D, Donovan G (2008) External human factors in incident management team decisionmaking and their effect on large fire suppression expenditures. Journal of Forestry 106, 416–424.
| External human factors in incident management team decisionmaking and their effect on large fire suppression expenditures.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Charmaz K (2000) Grounded theory: objectivist and constructivist methods. In ‘Handbook of Qualitative Research’. (Eds NK Denzin, YS Lincoln) pp. 509–535. (Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA)
Desmond M (2007) ‘On the Fireline: Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters.’ (University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, USA)
Dunn CJ, Calkin DE, Thompson MP (2017) Towards enhanced risk management: planning, decision making and monitoring of US wildfire response. International Journal of Wildland Fire 26, 551
| Towards enhanced risk management: planning, decision making and monitoring of US wildfire response.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Eden C (1988) Cognitive mapping. European Journal of Operational Research 36, 1–13.
| Cognitive mapping.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Edmondson A (1999) Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly 44, 350–383.
| Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Flores D, Haire E (2021) The development of an organizational safety culture in the United States Forest Service. Journal of Forestry 119, 506–519.
| The development of an organizational safety culture in the United States Forest Service.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hoover K (2020) Federal wildfire management: ten-year funding trends and issues FY2011–FY2020. R46583. Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC, USA. Available at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R46583.pdf [verified 1 July 2021]
Jahn JLS, Black AE (2017) A model of communicative and hierarchical foundations of high reliability organizing in wildland firefighting teams. Management Communication Quarterly 31, 356–379.
| A model of communicative and hierarchical foundations of high reliability organizing in wildland firefighting teams.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Marcus A (1995) Managing with danger: an introduction. Industrial & Environmental Crisis Quarterly 9, 139–151.
| Managing with danger: an introduction.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
National Interagency Coordination Center (2020) Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2020. National Interagency Fire Center, Boise, ID, USA. Available at https://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/intelligence/2020_statssumm/annual_report_2020.pdf [verified 6 July 2021]
National Interagency Fire Center (2016) Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations 2016. National Interagency Fire Center, Boise, ID, USA. Available at https://www.nifc.gov/policies/red_book/archive/2016RedBook.pdf [verified 22 September 2020]
North MP, Stephens SL, Collins BM, Agee JK, Aplet G, Franklin JF, Fulé PZ (2015) Reform forest fire management. Science 349, 1280–1281.
| Reform forest fire management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Olson RL, Bengston DN, DeVaney LA, Thompson TAC (2015) Wildland fire management futures: insights from a foresight panel. NRS-GTR-152. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Newtown Square, PA, USA.
| Crossref |
Putnam T (1995) Findings from the wildland firefighters human factors workshop: improving wildland firefighter performance under stressful, risky conditions: toward better decisions on the fireline and more resilient organizations. 9551-2855-MTDC. USDA Forest Service, Technology & Development Program, Missoula, MT, USA. Available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf95512855/pdf95512855pt01.pdf [verified 27 September 2022]
Pyne SJ (2015) ‘Between Two Fires: A Fire History of Contemporary America.’ (The University of Arizona Press: Tucson, AZ, USA)
Rochlin GI, La Porte TR, Roberts KH (1987) The self-designing high-reliability organization: aircraft carrier flight operations at sea. Naval War College Review 40, 76–92.
Rollins M, Rodriguez-Franco C, Haan T, Conard S (2017) Research and development wildland fire and fuels accomplishments and outcomes. FS-1086. USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC, USA. Available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs_series/wo/wo_fs1086.pdf [verified 27 September 2022]
Schein EH, Bennis WG (1965) ‘Personal and Organizational Change Through Group Methods: The Laboratory Approach.’ (Wiley: New York, NY, USA)
Schultz CA, Thompson MP, McCaffrey SM (2019) Forest Service fire management and the elusiveness of change. Fire Ecology 15, 13
| Forest Service fire management and the elusiveness of change.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Steelman TA, McCaffrey SM (2011) What is limiting more flexible fire management – public or agency pressure? Journal of Forestry 109, 454–461.
| What is limiting more flexible fire management – public or agency pressure?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thompson MP (2014) Social, institutional, and psychological factors affecting wildfire incident decision making. Society & Natural Resources 27, 636–644.
| Social, institutional, and psychological factors affecting wildfire incident decision making.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thompson M, Dunn C, Calkin D (2015) Wildfires: systemic changes required. Science 350, 920–920.
| Wildfires: systemic changes required.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thompson MP, MacGregor DG, Calkin DE (2016) Risk management: core principles and practices, and their relevance to wildland fire. RMRS-GTR-350. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr350.pdf [verified 27 September 2022]
Thompson MP, MacGregor DG, Dunn CJ, Calkin DE, Phipps J (2018) Rethinking the wildland fire management system. Journal of Forestry 116, 382–390.
| Rethinking the wildland fire management system.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Tidwell TL (2016) Chief’s Letter of Intent – 2016 Wildland Fire. File Code 5100. USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC, USA.
USDA Forest Service (1995) Course to the future: positioning fire and aviation management. USDA Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management, Washington, DC, USA. Available at http://ppolinks.com/forestservicemuseum/2013_5_14_FirePlan.pdf [verified 21 January 2019]
USDA Forest Service, DOI Office of Wildland Fire Coordination (2011) A national cohesive wildland fire management strategy. Wildland Fire Leadership Council, Washington, DC, USA. Available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/38646 [verified 15 December 2021]
Vaughan D (1996) ‘The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA.’ (University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, USA)
Vogus TJ, Sutcliffe KM (2012) Organizational mindfulness and mindful organizing: a reconciliation and path forward. Academy of Management Learning & Education 11, 722–735.
| Organizational mindfulness and mindful organizing: a reconciliation and path forward.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Weick KE, Sutcliffe KM (2007) ‘Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty.’ (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, USA)
Woods DD (2005) Creating foresight: lessons for enhancing resilience from Columbia. In ‘Organization at the Limit: Lessons from the Columbia Disaster’. (Eds WH Starbuck, M Farjoun) pp. 289–308. (Blackwell Publishing: Malden, MA, USA)
