LAFD DEATH PROMPTS NATIONWIDE SAFETY CALL.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

The death last year of Los Angeles Firefighter Jaime L. Foster prompted a safety study that calls for fire departments nationwide to end the practice of riding on the tailboard of fire trucks and to implement other safety measures.

The report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said the death of Foster shows the inherent danger of assigning firefighters to stand on the back of a firetruck to help direct the engineer in backing up the rig.

``Fire departments should modify existing policies to prohibit members from riding on the tailboard or any exposed position when the vehicle is in motion,'' said the May 20 report by NIOSH, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which investigates workplace injuries and deaths.

A NIOSH spokesman said the report would be sent to fire departments nationwide, but that the agency could not order the recommendations implemented.

Foster was killed Aug. 14 when she fell from the running board of Engine 273 as it prepared to leave the site of a house fire in Encino, and was run over by the rig.

Despite the agency's recommendation, Los Angeles Fire Department officials defended their policy, which allows firefighters to ride on tailboards - strapped in with a safety harness - to help engine drivers reverse their vehicles.

But Battalion Chief Don Frazeur, who headed the department's internal investigation into the Foster case, said the rookie wasn't using the safety harness at the time of the accident.

``Had Foster done that she most certainly would be alive today,'' Frazeur said. ``Had the policy been followed it would have been very much preventable.''

Frazeur also said that before Foster's death, station captains were lax about enforcing the department's policy on the safety harness. Since then, he said, officials have issued memos reminding personnel to buckle up.

Fire Inspector Mike McCormick of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said that agency prohibits a firefighter from standing on tailboards while a vehicle is moving unless a safety harness is in use.

``The bottom line is, you can ride on the tailboard if you have a tailboard safety restraint.''

Foster, 25, of Palmdale had been on the job only three months at the time of her death. She'd been assigned as the crew's ``Tailboard Safety Member,'' using an electronic bell mounted on the back of the rig to signal the engineer if any obstructions blocked the path of a truck as it left the scene.

The LAFD released a preliminary report shortly after the incident, which said the death was an accident but did not mention that Foster had not been strapped onto the tailboard. And the LAFD said Thursday it had completed its final report, but officials refused to release it.

The Los Angeles Police Department also investigated Foster's death, but closed its case after finding no criminal liability, said LAPD Detective Billy Bustos. Because the death was a traffic fatality, Cal-OSHA, which investigates workplace incidents, did not conduct an inquiry, and the case fell under police agency jurisdiction, officials said.

In January, investigators with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health dispatched a team to carry out an investigation, interviewing witnesses, reviewing LAFD reports and procedures, and Foster's training records.

In addition to recommending the tailboard ban, the federal agency also recommended that departments equip their vehicles with additional mirrors, automatic sensing devices and even video cameras to help with backing maneuvers.

It also said that ``spotters'' wearing high-visibility reflective gear should be posted away from the rig and should use verbal, electronic or radio signals to communicate any hazards.

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com