OSHA fireground staffing requirements clarified
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would enforce some of the provisions of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1500, Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health–1992, explained Thomas H. Seymour, acting director of OSHA`s Directorate of Safety Standards Programs. Speaking at the Legislative Issues Forum at Fire-Rescue International in September 1995, Seymour sought to clarify confusion created by an enforcement memo OSHA issued in May 1995 that suggested OSHA would enforce policies not specifically required by an OSHA standard by using the NFPA standard. The memo, Seymour explained, made no distinction between mandatory requirements and suggested approaches in some key areas; examples presented were intended to describe an acceptable approach and not to prescribe how to conduct the operation, he added.
Overall, Seymour said, OSHA`s regulatory intent would be satisfied by following the specific NFPA 1500 requirements.
At the center of the confusion caused by the memo was the issue involving responses to hazardous environments. The OSHA memo indicated that the agency would require two of the four responders (the minimum number of responders required under NFPA 1500) to remain outside the hazardous atmosphere while the other two conduct interior operations. NFPA 1500 requires a minimum of two as an entry team and that at least one member stay outside the hazardous area. In addition, OSHA`s May memo included explanations and examples of other OSHA standards that seemed to be inconsistent with NFPA 1500.
Enforcement of NFPA 1500 mandatory requirements uses OSHA`s “general duty clause” as the mechanism for referencing the consensus standard. The clause authorizes OSHA to follow an applicable national consensus standard when no specific OSHA regulation applies. A standard applied by way of the general duty clause would become a de facto OSHA regulation for the specific task covered by the NFPA standard. For the general duty clause to be used, OSHA first must accept that compliance with the referenced standard will satisfy the regulatory intent.
(Source: On Scene, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Dec. 15, 1995.)
