The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has drawn up a proposal to overhaul the safety and health standards for firefighters, emergency medical service providers and other emergency first responders known as the “Fire Brigades” standard.
This has some fire agencies across the country worried about the negative financial impact this could have on some smaller fire departments.
Ludington Fire Chief, John Henderson, does not see the proposed changes as a negative, and although Fountain Fire Chief, Jeremy Goble agrees “anything that helps the health and safety of emergency services is a worthwhile cause,” he still has a few concerns.
The “Fire Brigades” Standard was first published in 1980 and as an out-of-date document it fails to address a number of hazards faced by modern day emergency responders. The newly named “Emergency Response” standard calls for major changes to personal protective equipment or PPE, with significant improvements to safety and health practices.
Ludington’s Hendeson said, “The new changes will adopt policies already in place by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which the Ludington department already follows. The NFPA standards are based on historical data and the application of rules they have compiled over the years provides the safest possible environment for firefighters and residents.” Henderson works withing the confines of the NFPA in order to create a better fire department.
Henderson believes that if leadership values their department, they will plan ahead. “Departments should want their people to be certified; firefighters need to be qualified and trained. People call on the fire department on their very worst of days, and that is when we need to be at our very best, we cannot have failures. We train for these scenarios in order to reach the best possible outcome for our citizens and to manage the risk to our firefighters” he said.
Of course there is cost involved in order for a department to function at a high level. Fire departments can receive funding through local, state, and federal governments. Locally, departments can be funded through millages, which are voted on by residents. A department can have a millage for equipment, or operations, or both depending on need and the level of commitment voted on by citizens. At the state and federal levels departments may apply for grants to receive funding for training and equipment. However, the burden on smaller departments is not always financial.
Fountain’s Chief Goble explained, “Full-time departments have the luxury of administrative personnel that deal with implementation of these things as their day job. The men and women of our department work full time jobs, raise families, and put in what time they can to the fire service. We have to try and decipher this information ourselves and add it in with the limited time we currently have. Once the new standard becomes official the workload of implementing the new policies will be divided among the officers in the department. “These types of changes continue to tax our personnel”, he said.
Fountain Fire Department is a smaller rural department with a limited budget. Chief Goble is concerned with the time and cost involved in implanting these new standards once they become official. “Every new standard that comes out from the state or federal government adds more time and cost to our services”, he said.
Chief Henderson shared that Ludington FD has recently applied for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the federal government, which will pay for new SCBA’s (self-contained breathing apparatus) for his crew. Henderson wants his crews “to be operating the best that we can,” and he said, “his department already meets or exceeds NFPA standards and will continue to operate under its guidelines.”
As the Chief of a small rural department, Goble is responsible for the safety and well-being of his crews, and he cares about his firefighters. “If I miss something within the new standards and one of our members gets hurt or killed, my department, my officers, and myself are open to potential civil liabilities. These are concerns we face daily, and at the end of the day all we are trying to do is help where we can and come home to our families the same way we left.” Goble admits, “most of the changes proposed are aimed right at that, but they do not account for the added time they continue to take away.”
OSHA published their proposal earlier this year as a step toward President Biden’s commitment to protecting first responders the same way they protect us. The proposal includes hundreds of changes, some of which have been viewed as troublesome, particularly to volunteer departments, and OSHA has opened a public comment period through May 6.
One proposed change that has gotten attention is the two-in two-out requirement for structural firefighters. OSHA revised its Respiratory Protection Standard, which set a new precedent when it was adopted in 1998, requiring a minimum of two firefighters be available outside of a structure fire while interior operations are being conducted inside by at least two firefighters. If this proposal were to become an official OSHA policy, it could be problematic for volunteer departments that struggle with staffing.
The Ludington Fire Department has the personnel to comply with the two-in two-out rule, but Chief Henderson understands how smaller departments may have issues. He explains, “we always respond with either two, four, or six firefighters, etc. so the two-in two out rule is not a problem for us. Some departments may respond with only three firefighters making the rule impossible to follow.” Chief Henderson feels the difficulties with the new proposals for volunteer departments lies in the limited man power of smaller departments, not funding.
OSHA’s new “Emergency Response” standard is still in the discussion and planning phase and at first glance Ludington’s Chief Henderson is O.K. with it and he wants residents to know- “the department is doing all the right things to serve the public.” While Fountain’s Chief Goble adds, “We do this to support the communities we live in and have a true love for the fire service.”
For a full list of OSHA’s proposed changes please visit: https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/federalregister/2024-02-05