Visual standards for firefighters

Checklist

• Vision must be binocular.
• Have a minimum uncorrected distance visual acuity of 6/18 in the better eye and 6/24 in the worse eye.
• Have a corrected visual acuity of 6/9 binocularly with a minimum of 6/12 in the worse eye.
• Have no more than +3.00 dioptres of hypermetropia in each eye.
• Be able to read N6 at 30cm unaided with both eyes open (applicants aged 25 years and under).
• Be able to read N12 at 30cm unaided with both eyes open (applicants 26 years and over).
• Have a normal visual field in each eye, as determined by confrontation techniques and formal testing methods.
• Have no history of night blindness or any ocular disease that is likely to progress and result in future failure of the visual standards for serving firefighters.
• Have an appropriate level of colour perception. Where the applicant fails the Ishihara test, they will be required to undertake the Farnsworth D15 and possibly (dependent upon the result of the Farnsworth D15) the Nagel Anomaloscope. People who fail the Ishihara test and fail the Farnsworth D15 test by making one or more colour confusions that cross the hue circle are likely to be dichromatic or have severe anomalous trichromatism and they are unsafe for safety-critical work. We recommend that you contact your optician for a Farnsworth test and ask that the results are emailed to oncallrecruitment@dsfire.gov.uk for an Occupation Health Advisor’s opinion.
• People who have had Radial Keratotomy cannot be considered for operational firefighting duties due to the relatively high incidence of refractive instability.
• People who have undergone the following types of refractive surgery can be considered six months following surgery, provided the limit of surgical correction has not exceeded 8D:
  • Photorefractive Keratectomy
  • Laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK)
  • Laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK).