Vehicle accidents are a significant concern for the Department. Each time we respond to an incident, we place not only our lives in jeopardy, but the lives of the public we serve. We recognize that there is an inherent risk in navigating vehicles up to thirty tons and sixty feet in length with lights and sirens though City streets over 200,000 times a year. We make every effort to mitigate this risk to the public and to ourselves. We welcome the Auditor"s recommendations as a means to further prevent injury and incapacitation of our personnel and equipment.

· Recommendation of Auditor"s report

1.9-1 Prepare polices and procedures to cover a comprehensive strategy for management of vehicular accident data, and coordinate with other appropriate units within the Department to reduce cost and liability.

· Assessment of Department

The Department concurs with the recommendation of the audit.

The auditor"s report accurately outlines challenges pertaining to reducing risk associated with the operations of emergency vehicles in the City and County of San Francisco. The Auditor notes that there is no single Fire Department unit responsible for managing the flow of accident data. Instead the Department relies on a process that starts with a field accident report and then moves laboriously through the chain of command to the Secretary of the Fire Commission, the Accident Review Committee and ultimately the Fire Commission. The Department disagrees with the auditor"s opinion that accident reports are often "incomplete or inaccurate¹." We believe the auditors may have misinterpreted the Accident Form (#4120) as requiring all fields to be completed. Not all fields on this form are relevant to all accidents and thus certain fields for any accident will remain unfilled.

Additionally several other bureaus can be affected by an accident, including Human Resources, Finance, Operations, and Support Services. These bureaus too often receive limited or inconsistent information on how an incident may impact their particular functions. One challenge for the Department is to identify or create the unit that in the auditor"s words, "has the overarching responsibility to coordinate and direct the flow of accident information".

The Department has already identified the need for a Comprehensive Safety Program (CSP). The CSP program will, out of necessity, weave its way through a number of Divisions and Bureaus within the Department. It is envisioned that the CSP would have both operational and administrative responsibilities, and would be the organizational unit responsible for collecting accident data and directing the flow of accident information. The CSP would be responsible for "improving linkage with training (for aerial ladder truck operators), analyzing available data to determine if any physical facility or equipment design changes are warranted, reviewing and revising, as appropriate the associated information system to provide better accident data to management, and ensuring that these activities are part of a coordinated safety program²."

There would be a 24 X 7 presence in the form of a safety officer (SO). The SO would be job responsibilities would include but not be limited to:

· Responding to all working fires to ensure fireground safety

· Investigation of all fire ground injuries and the development of preventative recommendations

· Responding to all Haz Materials incidents to assure all units adhere to industry standard safety practices

· The completion of after action reports for fire, Hazardous Material, MCI and

· Responding to all accidents involving Department vehicles

· Completion of all accident investigations and reports

The CSP would also have a strong administrative component. The administrative responsibilities of the CSP manager would include but not be limited to:

· Management and oversight of the accident database

· Working with the Office of the Department Physician to identify trends of employee injury and illness.

· Development of an aggressive accident prevention program (including recommendations for disciplinary action when appropriate)

· Working with the Division of Training to develop training programs based on Continuos Quality Improvement data for prevention of accidents, injuries and illness.

· Development of a comprehensive set of safety policy and procedures

· Participation in Department and City work-groups and committees related to employee health and safety and vehicle accidents.

· Oversight of Department OSHA compliance and working with Support Services to develop short and long term goals for facility compliance.

· Working with Clothing Depot / BOE personnel to evaluate any new products related to employee health and safety.

The CSP must contain a strong Continuing Quality Improvement (CQI) component. It is the responsibility of the CQI component to identify those contributing factors to an accident that can be addressed through additional training, equipment modification and / or procedural amendment.

· Department Action plan and timeline

The Department anticipates the development of the Comprehensive Safety Program (CSP) to begin in January of 2002 and be formally included in the budget for FY 2002-2003.

· Recommendation of Auditor"s report

1.9-2 Utilize the Department"s PeopleSoft system as the data storage and reporting tool to track vehicular accidents.

· Assessment of Department

The Department concurs with the recommendation of the audit.

The Auditor notes that it is not possible to reduce accident rates unless there is a complete collection of data that can be accessed and analyzed. The Auditor"s Report recommends that the Department develop a Vehicle Accident Database within PeopleSoft. The database should use a unique identifier to track every individual Vehicle Accident. This would permit consistent access to accident data by affected areas of the Department.

The Commission Secretary currently uses an Access Database to track accidents and dispositions. While the current database provides basic functionality, we anticipate that it will also provide a footprint for development and data migration for the PeopleSoft program.

The combination of a unified database and the assignment of data management to one unit within the Department would ensure complete and accurate records. Complete and accurate records are the foundation for developing accident reduction strategies, and are a necessity in cases where a Vehicle Accident leads to litigation. Accurate data also permits a true accounting of the actual cost of accidents to the Department.

The use of PeopleSoft would allow the Department to have a single repository of information that could be used to assign a cost to a Vehicle Accident. The Department currently tracks settlement payments, but vehicle repair costs, medical costs for injured employees, and the overtime to backfill a position are not routinely tracked.

The use of a database will permit fast, flexible, and accurate reporting of information pertaining to Vehicle Accidents. The auditor"s report suggests the development of a single format report that would link all of the associated costs, and additional accident reports that provide management with the comprehensive information it needs to identify and mitigate Vehicle Accident occurrence. It should be noted that the Department has already begun research into the development of these reports using Crystal Reports and the PeopleSoft database.

The greatest challenge to any successful Database implementation is the validity and completeness of the data entered. The auditor has suggested, and the Department agrees, that the first hurdle is the lack of a single unit that is responsible for ensuring that the Vehicle Accident information accurately gets entered into the Vehicle Accident database once implemented. This section of the implementation plan should be consistent with the Department"s response to the auditor"s recommendation in Section 1.3 for the creation of a Policy Planning and Analysis Unit. The Department will either create this new unit or task the existing Accident Review Committee with the maintenance of the Vehicle Accident Database.

The Vehicle Accident Database itself can be developed and implemented as part of the PeopleSoft Monitor Health and Safety Module with minimal customization. The database is capable of being the repository for all pertinent accident information other than graphics. The implementation strategy and training requirements should be defined in workgroup meetings with MIS/911 Project staff, the PeopleSoft Administrator, and representatives of the selected unit responsible for the database.

Reporting of accident information can be linked with Training Information since the PeopleSoft Administer Training Module has been implemented. Accident information will be linked to the cost of vehicle repairs and time out of service once the Vehicle Tracking Module is implemented by first quarter 2002. Cost information as it pertains to employees injured in a vehicle accident will be available once the Office of the Fire Department Physician begins using the Health and Safety Module as it pertains to employees injured in vehicle accidents.

· Department Action plan and timeline

The Department continues to work on the development and necessary customization of the PeopleSoft application and anticipates a "go -live" date of July 2002. Once the Vehicle Accident Database is implemented the Vehicle Tracking and Office of the Physician"s module will be able to support accurate reporting of the complete costs associated with vehicle accidents.

During the remaining portion of FY 2001-02 the Department can develop both the Comprehensive Safety Program and the Vehicle Accident Database. The fundamental tenants of these projects are as follows:

A. Comprehensive Safety Program

1) Develop unit that is responsible for all accident information

2) Unit should report findings to the Training Division which is tasked with coordinating ongoing and remedial training

B. Vehicle Accident Database

1) Database Recommendations

· Control Identifier so that all costs associated with each accident can be tracked over time by the different units affected e.g. Finance, Operations, Support Services, Training, etc

· Use PeopleSoft

3) Data collection to ensure complete reports

4) Provide repository for all cost associated including:

· Settlement Payments

· Apparatus Repairs

· Medical and indemnity costs for injured employees including overtime to backfill

5) Data Analysis to develop Accident Prevention Strategies

· Recommendations to changes of apparatus should be referred to Support Services

· Training solution should be referred to the Training Division

6) Database Reporting requirements

· Single format report that links the mixture of associated costs

· Comprehensive Accident Reports

· Recommendation of Auditor"s report

1.9-3 Incorporate the vehicular accident program into a broader Department-wide Safety Program

· Assessment of Department staff

The Department concurs with the recommendation of the audit.

The Department has already identified the need for a Comprehensive Safety Program (CSP) and concept of the CSP has been in informal development for some time. While there are still questions about its place in the overall structure of the Department, it is clear to command staff that there is a great need. With the myriad of hazardous and toxic materials that firefighters must contented with on a daily basis, the need to provide additional resources to safeguard their health and safety has never been greater. While there are still a number of important facets of this program in development, a number of the seminal elements of the Program have been identified.

The CSP would be a program that would out of necessity weave its way through a number of Divisions and Bureaus within the Department. It is envisioned that the CSP would have both operational and administrative responsibilities, and would be the organizational unit responsible for collecting accident data and directing the flow of accident information. The CSP would be responsible for "improving linkage with training (for aerial ladder truck operators), analyzing available data to determine if any physical facility or equipment design changes are warranted, reviewing and revising, as appropriate the associated information system to provide better accident data to management, and ensuring that these activities are part of a coordinated safety program³."

· Department Action plan and timeline

The Department anticipates the formal development of the Comprehensive Safety Program (CSP) to begin in January of 2002 and be formally included in the budget for FY 2002-2003, and begin in July 2002.

· Recommendation of Auditor"s report

1.9-4 Incorporate issues from analysis of accident data into specific training sessions and procedures.

· Assessment of Department staff

The Department concurs with the recommendation of the audit.

Accident data shall be collected and reviewed by the Continuing Quality Improvement (CQI) component of the Comprehensive Safety Program. It shall be the responsibility of the CQI component to identify those contributing factors to an accident that can be addressed through additional training, equipment modification and / or procedural amendment. Additionally, it shall be their ongoing responsibility to assess the quality of each Apparatus Operator, identify personnel who have rates of accidents above the standard benchmarks (arithmetic mean, median or mode), and recommend them to the Division of Training for remedial sessions. It should also fall within their purview to identify those operators with exemplary performance and recommend them for recognition.

One such example for Division of Training is cited in the Auditor"s report. The Auditor"s report notes that "68% of accidents in FY 2000-2001 were found to be caused by inattention or by poor judgement" and 23% of these were due to "Misjudged Clearance" by Fire Department Personnel. The report recommends that any Safety Program include on-going training activities that are targeted at specific areas of risk through careful analysis of accident data. For example, the auditor sites that while Aerial ladder trucks represent less than 10% of the vehicle fleet, they account for 20% of the accidents and nearly half of the settlement costs. This basic example of vehicle accident data analysis leads the auditor to recommend that a Vehicle Accident Reduction target would be aerial truck operations training sessions to be implemented by the Division of Training.

The Department has long been an advocate of emergency vehicle training. It is worth noting that the National Standards for Emergency Vehicle Operations Training (EVOC) are primarily focused on the high-speed operation of sedans, and therefor far more applicable to Police Department operations than those of Fire. EVOC training must also be geographically relevent. On the East Coast learning to navigate on ice is a critical component, but here in San Francisco we focus attention on the torque caused be severe slopes and driving in wet conditions. The Department already provides a modified version of this program as part of it 16-week recruit training program conducted by the Division of Training. The course provided to recruits requires them to successfully complete six events in a six minute cone course. The DOT feels this course provides an adequate evaluation of fundamental driving skills. Once assigned to the field, vehicle operation becomes the responsibility of the training officer and is considered a critical element in the overall evaluation of the probationary firefighter. The Department is currently researching and developing an action plan to provide all members with EVAP (emergency vehicle accident prevention) training, a program designed specifically to address the challenge of operating fire apparatus in emergency situations.

· Department Action plan and timeline

The formal responsibility for reconciling accident data and the need for training programs will be assigned to the Comprehensive Safety Program (CSP). It is anticipated that the CSP will be in place and functioning by FY 2002-2003 (July 2002.)

Until the CSP becomes a functioning unit, the Department intends to forward accident data to the Division of Training as they are captured. It will be the responsibility of the Division of Training to extrapolate useful information for the development of its apparatus operators training programs.

¹ Management Audit of the San Francisco Fire Department, 2001; pg. 1.9-2

² Management Audit of the San Francisco Fire Department, 2001, pg. 1.9-1

³Management Audit of the San Francisco Fire Department, 2001, pg. 1.9-1