SOP Manual - Cleveland Fire Department

Cleveland Fire Department
Operations Manual
Safety Officer
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish a Safety Officer for the personnel of the Cleveland Fire
Department.
Objective
To establish a safe working environment for Cleveland Fire Department personnel on the fire ground,
training facilities, and at the station.
Scope
This policy shall apply to all Cleveland Fire Department personnel.
Fire Station Safety Officer
A. The City Safety Committee member shall be responsible for Safety issues at all Fire Stations and
the Training facilities.
B. Unsafe conditions or acts shall be reported to the City Safety Committee member immediately.
Fire Ground Safety Officer
The recognition of situations which present inordinate hazards to fire ground personnel and the proper
response to safeguard personnel from those hazards is of critical importance to all Fire Department
operations.
A. Command has the responsibility to recognize situations involving a high risk to personnel and to
initiate appropriate safety measures.
B. Command shall establish a Safety Officer at all incidents involving an inordinate danger to
personnel. Command shall consider establishing a Safety Officer on any situation where it may be
advantageous to the overall safety of operations.
C. On small incidents, where possible, the Incident Commander will also assume the role of Safety
Officer.
D. A Safety Officer shall be established automatically at multiple alarm incidents. The Training
Captain will assume this role when possible. If the Training Captain is not available it will be the
Incident Commander’s responsibility to assign someone to this position.
E. The establishment of a Safety Officer in no way diminishes the responsibility of all Officers for
the safety of their crews.
Effective: June 1, 1997 Revised: 5/14/2009 Page | 164
Approved by: Chief Chuck Atchley