Tulsa city officials set a goal of reducing accidents and injuries by 20 percent this year.
After a 25 percent reduction in injuries since 2013, the city hit a plateau. City Manager Jim Twombly said they plan on rolling out a near-miss employee reporting program.
"Instead of just saying, 'Ooh, that was a close one,' let's dive into that the same way we dive into an accident," Twombly said. "And we think that's really going to have a positive impact and help us take the whole program to the next level."
The city started safety improvement efforts with a 2012 study. Last year, the city instituted a distracted driving policy to cut down on employee accidents.
The fire department is the city leader in injuries, but firefighter injuries have decreased 40 percent since 2012. Chief Ray Driskell said he has a plan for continued improvement.
"We're continuing to come up with new and innovative ways, whether it's through firefighting techniques or equipment that you use to try to improve upon that," Driskell said. "So we'll continue to watch it and monitor it every quarter to ensure that we're still reducing injuries."
One piece of new equipment firefighters have is a hose nozzle that produces a stream of solid water. Old nozzles put air in the stream, which could push fire around unpredictably.
