The nation’s approach to fire fighter safety has failed over the last 40 years, and new federal standards must require more significant investment in staffing, training, and other resources to keep fire fighters safe, the IAFF told Congress.
“Our reliance on consensus standards with no teeth and the goodwill of city administrators is literally killing us. Unlike nearly every other American industry, we have almost no legally enforceable workplace protections,” Evan Davis, IAFF Director of Government Affairs, said in testimony on June 4 before the Emergency Management and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is gathering comments from fire safety stakeholders as it proposes a broad update to workplace protections for fire fighters and other emergency service personnel, the first significant revision in over 40 years.
Our reliance on consensus standards with no teeth and the goodwill of city administrators is literally killing us. Unlike nearly every other American industry, we have almost no legally enforceable workplace protections.
evan davis, IAFF government affairs director
The International has tirelessly lobbied for revisions to the Fire Brigades Standard, which General President Edward Kelly has said would reshape fire fighter safety and save the lives of IAFF members. “Our job will never stop being dangerous, but there are steps we can take to make it safer. This update is long overdue, and the Biden Administration agrees,” Kelly said in an email to affiliate leaders.
The proposed standards would completely revamp the Fire Brigades Standard, to be renamed the Emergency Response Standard. The proposal calls for comprehensive changes to emergency response, including staffing, training, apparatus readiness, and protective clothing and equipment. The new standard would also require employers to obtain baseline medical screenings for emergency responders and provide access to behavioral health resources.
“Too often, our fire fighters rely on the community’s or elected officials’ goodwill to maintain or update facilities, apparatus, or personal protective equipment. Our nation’s fire fighters need a standard to point to, a place to go when the status quo is not safe,” Grant Walker, president of the Prince Georges County Professional Fire Fighters, told the subcommittee.
Too often, our fire fighters rely on the community’s or elected officials’ goodwill to maintain or update facilities, apparatus, or personal protective equipment. Our nation’s fire fighters need a standard to point to, a place to go when the status quo is not safe.
Grant Walker, president of the Prince Georges County Professional Fire Fighters
Each year, approximately 60,000 fire fighters are injured on the job, and another 100 are killed in the line of duty, with an estimated cost of $3 billion a year. This does not account for lifelong challenges that come with the work-related injuries or behavioral health challenges many fire fighters confront during their careers.
The OSHA proposal recognizes that new standards cannot follow a one-size-fits-all approach and requires employers to collaborate with employees to develop safety plans that are appropriate for each community and fire department.
Organizations representing volunteer fire fighters warned the subcommittee that fire departments that rely on volunteers, particularly in smaller communities, would not have the resources needed to comply with the proposed new standards.
“If adopted as written, this proposal would be economically infeasible for most volunteer fire departments to implement and cause many volunteer fire departments to shut down,” said Chief Joseph Maruca, Director of the National Volunteer Fire Council and Former Fire Chief of the West Barnstable, Mass., Fire Department.
Maruca said implementing the new standards would be especially difficult as funding has recently declined for FEMA’s AFG and SAFER Grant programs, which provide money for equipping and staffing fire departments.
The IAFF has said cost should not be the deciding factor in common sense safety regulations that protect civilians and fire fighters alike.
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) acknowledged the concerns of both career and volunteer fire organizations. “We must find a balanced approach that promotes fire fighter safety and prevents regulatory burdens that ultimately make communities less safe.”
D’Esposito ended the hearing by thanking the participating organizations, including the IAFF, “This OSHA standard hasn’t been touched since 1980, and you have been the driving force of making fire fighters lives safer throughout this country.”
Learn more about the OSHA proposal and find resources from the IAFF here.
