Investigating The Conformity Rate of Physical Fitness Evaluation Tests Performed in Iranian Process Companies Among Industrial Firefighters Based on The NFPA

Introduction: Industrial firefighting (IFF) constitutes a high-risk occupation within the domain of process industries. Firefighting teams serve as the operational component of the incident command team. This study aims to assess the alignment of physical fitness assessments conducted in selected Iranian process industrial firefighting settings and to scrutinize the extent of compliance with The U.S. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requirements by analyzing the resultant percentages of similarity in test outcomes. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was undertaken across 14 Iranian process companies, encompassing two refinery companies and 12 petrochemical companies, employing a census sampling approach. The study’s benchmark was NFPA1582-2018. Data analysis was performed utilizing SPSS 27 software. This investigation focused on assessing the percentage of essential parallels within five distinct groups, along with their corresponding sub-components, in alignment with the tests and elements stipulated in the NFPA standard. Results: Most of the selected companies (58%) lacked a cohesive program or established standard to assess the fitness of their firefighting personnel. Among the subset of companies (42%) that did employ an evaluation standard, in the majority of instances, a minimal proportion (less than 20%) underwent individualized assessments in line with the components outlined in NFPA 1582-2018 for physical fitness evaluation tests. Conclusion: Given that 58% of the surveyed process companies in this study lacked a cohesive fitness assessment program and 42% demonstrated limited compliance with NFPA 1582-2018 in the assessed components, this issue underscores the critical need to evaluate the components quality and conduct a technical needs assessment. Developing adaptable and suitable components aligned with the work conditions prevalent in the process industry becomes imperative. Additionally, there must be existed a legal mandate for the pertinent ministry to implement an integrated framework. This scenario necessitates that process companies reevaluate their approaches concerning the selection and oversight of their firefighting personnel.