Today the DOL’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register (89 FR 7774-8023) on “Emergency Response Standard”. The proposed rulemaking would replace the existing Fire Brigade Standard (29 CFR 1910.156) with a new Emergency Response Standard, and make supporting revisions to other parts of §1910.
Background Information
The preamble provides a great deal of background information supporting the need for this rulemaking. It includes discussions about:
Work OSHA has done to date on developing the new Standard,
Fatality and injury analysis overview,
Fatality statistics,
Non-fatal injuries,
Health effects overview,
Exposures from combustion products, other contaminants and substances, and infectious diseases,
Acute and chronic health conditions, including: cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases and conditions,
Behavioral health overview,
General mental health,
Substance use disorders,
Exposure to violence,
Incorporation by Reference
OSHA plans on relying on a great deal of work done by various industry groups in developing consensus standards. OSHA is proposing to incorporate by reference parts or all of the following documents:
NFPA 1001, Standard for Structural Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications, 2019 ed,
NFPA 1002, Standard for Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Professional Qualifications, 2017 ed,
NFPA 1005, Standard for Professional Qualifications for Marine Fire Fighting for Land-Based Fire Fighters, 2019 ed,
NFPA 1006, Standard for Technical Rescue Personnel Professional Qualifications, 2021 ed,
NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, 2020 ed,
NFPA 1081, Standard for Facility Fire Brigade Member Professional Qualifications, 2018 ed,
NFPA 1140, Standard for Wildland Fire Protection, 2022 ed,
NFPA 1407, Standard for Training Fire Service Rapid Intervention Crews, 2020 ed,
NFPA 1582, Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments, 2022 ed,
NFPA 1910, Standard for the Inspection, Maintenance, Refurbishment, Testing, and Retirement of In-Service Emergency Vehicles and Marine Firefighting Vessels, 2024 ed,
NFPA 1951, Standard on Protective Ensembles for Technical Rescue Incidents, 2020 ed,
NFPA 1952, Standard on Surface Water Operations Protective Clothing and Equipment, 2021 ed,
NFPA 1953, Standard on Protective Ensembles for Contaminated Water Diving, 2021 ed,
NFPA 1971, Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, 2018 ed,
NFPA 1977, Standard on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting and Urban Interface Fire Fighting, 2022 ed,
NFPA 1981, Standard on Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) for Emergency Services, 2019 ed,
NFPA 1982, Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS), 2018 ed,
NFPA 1984, Standards on Respirators for Wildland Fire-Fighting Operations and Wildland Urban Interface Operations, 2022 ed,
NFPA 1986, Standard on Respiratory Protection Equipment for Tactical and Technical Operations, 2023 ed,
NFPA 1987, Standard on Combination Unit Respirator Systems for Tactical and Technical Operations, 2023 ed,
NFPA 1990, Standard for Protective Ensembles for Hazardous Materials and CBRN Operations, 2022 ed,
NFPA 1999, Standard on Protective Clothing and Ensembles for Emergency Medical Operations, 2018 ed, and
ANSI/ISEA 207, American National Standard for High-Visibility Public Safety Vests, 2011 ed
Coverage
In general, OSHA regulations and standards apply only to the private sector (excluding volunteer fire companies). Interestingly, the preamble notes that States with OSHA-approved State Plans under 29 USC 667 “would be required to treat public-sector employees the same as they do private-sector employees when adopting and enforcing a standard at least as effective as any final standard which may result from this rulemaking.” That would also apply to volunteer fire companies in those States.
Changes to Other Sections
The proposed rules would make supporting changes to other portions of §1910. The changed sub-sections include (links to discussions in preamble):
Section 1910.120 Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response,
Section 1910.134 Respiratory Protection,
Section 1910.155 Scope, Application and Definitions Applicable to This Subpart,
Section 1910.157 Portable Fire Extinguishers,
Section 1910.158 Standpipe Hose Systems, and
Section 1910.159 Automatic Sprinkler Systems
§1910.156 Revision
I will discuss the changes being proposed for §1910.156 in a subsequent post.
Request for Comments
OSHA is soliciting comments on the proposed rule. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # OSHA-2007-0073). Comments should be submitted by May 6th, 2024.