Contrasting safety attitudes, behaviors and practices in US and UK firefighters

• Incidents responded to by firefighters in the US and UK are broadly similar, but the rate of line of duty deaths is higher in the US than in the UK. • Our research characterized US and UK firefighting cultures as a potential source of differences in line of duty deaths. The results confirmed known differences in organizational structures and recruitment between the US and UK. • They also revealed marked differences in practices, behaviors, and attitudes that might contributed to line of duty deaths. Firefighters across the world face hazardous work environments. While the incidents encountered by firefighters are broadly similar in the US and UK, the rate of line of duty deaths is much higher in the US than in the UK. Our research sought to characterize firefighting cultures (e.g., practices, behaviors, and attitudes) as one potential source of differences in line of duty deaths in the US and UK. 1123 incident commanders (442 from the US and 681 from the UK) completed a survey that examined five domains of incident command: Demographic and employment information; Characteristics of Fire Departments/Services; Experience, training and certification; Decision-making and practices; and Safety/Operational culture. The results revealed marked differences across these domains, with some confirming known differences in organizational structures and recruitment across US and UK, but others establishing differences in operational/safety culture, behaviors and practices that have the potential to contribute to firefighter and public safety.