Open AccessReaction to Safety Equipment Technology in the Workplace and Implications: A Study of the Firefighter’s Hood
Author(s) -
Brian Ward
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2017.3026
Subject(s) - autonomy , negotiation , psychology , personal protective equipment , workplace safety , occupational safety and health , applied psychology , social psychology , covid-19 , medicine , sociology , political science , social science , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
In the 1990s the firefighter’s hood became a standard article of safety equipment worn by municipal firefighters, eliciting a negative reaction among many of these firefighters. I used data from interviews with 42 firefighters to explain why this reaction occurred. Data analysis revealed that negative reactions ultimately stemmed from the hood’s disruption of autonomy, repudiation of the complex mental and physical skill needed to perform tasks required of firefighters, and hindrance in negotiating the life-threatening environment created by a fire. These findings indicate that when introducing new safety equipment technology to emergency response workers, their reaction to this equipment, and its effect on their autonomy and ability to complete complex occupational tasks, may have important prevention implications.