Open-Circuit SCBA End-of-Service Time Indicator Performance Requirements

January 15, 2013 -- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published its final rule updating respirator approval standards for self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) remaining service-life indicators or warning devices.

The rule sets a minimum alarm point at 25 percent of the rated service time and allows the manufacturer to offer remaining service life set point at a higher value or values appropriate to the purchaser's use scenario.

The rule is in response to an IAFF petition to HHS to amend these regulations and is the culmination of a decade of lobbying efforts. In 2004, at the IAFF 47th Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, the IAFF membership approved Resolution 16, submitted by Columbus, OH Local 67, which required the IAFF to support this change to 42 CFR part 84 and to expedite the docket change.

Click here for the full text of the final rule.