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July 12, 2004
Investigation of Scott
AirPak Fifty
SCBA
The IAFF has been notified by
IAFF Local 3918, South Fire District (Middletown, CT) of problems with their
Scott AirPak Fifty SCBA. The problem involved leaky cylinder valves
causing inadvertent activation of the integrated Pak-Alert PASS device. The PASS
device is activated using air pressure from the SCBA when the cylinder valve is
opened.
Scott indicated in a letter
report that the air pressure required to activate the PASS device is very low.
Scott noted that certain SCBA’s, which have not been utilized for a period of
time, may have small amount of leakage from the cylinder valve that builds-up to
the point where the PASS device is activated. Scott determined that the
leak rate is too small to have an appreciable effect on the respirator’s
duration.
The problem was reported to
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for investigation
and in turn was forwarded to the Safety Equipment Institute (SEI). SEI
concluded that Scott’s plan to work individually with customers to resolve
problems and replace the activation spring for the PASS device when necessary is
the appropriate course of action.
The IAFF wants to determine
if this is an isolated occurrence or if this problem has occurred in other
jurisdictions. Therefore, any IAFF members that have experienced problems
with the Scott AirPak Fifty SCBA should document the incidents in writing
and please forward this information to the IAFF Department of Occupational
Health and Safety at
safety@iaff.org or fax to 202-737-8418.
To view the full SEI report,
select the following link.
equipment. PDF
To view the full NIOSH
report, select the following link.
DHHS.pdf
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