Chief Kanterman’s Journal Entry 65
One of the issues that surfaced after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated their respiratory standard and the “two in, two out” rule became apparent was whether or not we needed to provide a rescue team (rapid intervention teams or crews, Firefighter Assist and Search Teams, etc.) during firefighter training. The official interpretation from OSHA came back as “yes.” We put our firefighters in an Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) atmosphere in a burn building or an acquired structure, so why wouldn’t we take the right precautions in the event someone got in trouble? Over the past 30 years or so, statistics from the U.S. Fire Administration reported that an average of 10 firefighters are killed during training each year in the United States, with many more are injured. Training is the most controlled activity our people perform, yet they get hurt and killed each year doing so. This in of itself should be an unacceptable outcome for any training session anywhere in the country. A concerted effort must be made to ensure that training, particularly hands-on training—whether it’s a live burn exercise, technical rescue, rappelling, level A hazmat exercises, or other similar activity that can cause harm to our personnel—are conducted safely. Most hazardous training evolutions can be guided by existing documents, laws, nationally recognized standards or industry best practices, so it’s relatively easy to set a training safety policy. See the following examples:
Live burn training evolution guides:
- NFPA 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions
- NFPA 1971, Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting
- NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications
- NFPA 1041, Standard for Fire Service Instructor Professional Qualifications
- NFPA1407, Standard for Fire Service Rapid Intervention Teams
- NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program
- NFPA 1521, Standard for Fire Department Safety Officer
- NFPA 1561, Standard on Emergency Services Incident Management System
- NFPA 1584, Standard on the Rehabilitation Process for Members During Emergency Operations and Training Exercises
RELATED FIREFIGHTER TRAINING
- Objective-Based Live Fire Training: An Alternative Model
- Live Fire Training Is Worth It: Real Training for Firefighters
- Fire Training in Acquired Structures
- Getting the Most Out of Acquired Structure Live Burns
Maintenance of Equipment and PPE:
- NFPA 1962, Standard for the Inspection, Care, and Use of Fire Hose, Couplings, and Nozzles and the Service Testing of Fire Hose;
- NFPA 1932, Standard on Use, Maintenance, and Service Testing of In-Service Fire Department Ground Ladders;
- NFPA1915, Standard for Fire Apparatus Preventive Maintenance Program;
- NFPA1981, Standard on Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) for Emergency Services
- NFPA 1982, Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS)
- NFPA 1983, Standard on Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services
Whether your live burns are at a fixed burn facility, at a fire academy, or in an acquired structure in town, following simple procedures can get your department through it in a safe and effective manner. If you are already operating using the standards noted above for general operations, getting to “safe training” should be relatively easy. It should also be noted however that firefighters have gotten seriously injured or killed at training doing evolutions other than live burns. Some of these are apparatus and equipment drills, physical fitness activities, underwater and dive training, or at classes and seminars. Every lesson plan must have a safety element in it and every instructor has to be on the same page. As an example, one instructor cannot allow members to wear leather work gloves at a live burn exercise while the others have them wearing fire gloves. Consistency is key.
Take your department’s safety culture and instill it in to your new personnel while they’re still in recruit/probie school. As we know, the very basis of how they develop and eventually operate is determined in recruit school. The positive reinforcement must then come when they get to the firehouse. Ensure that the safety culture you are trying to establish is part and parcel to everyday activities. Your toughest group will be the veteran firefighters and officers, however realize it’s a slow process and only perseverance will make for successful outcomes. Safety at training is of paramount importance and should be made a priority as is operational safety.
Be well, stay well, be safe.
Ronnie K
RON KANTERMAN is the executive inspector of the Bureau of Fire Prevention for the Fire Department of New York. He is a more than four-decade veteran of the fire service and recently retired as chief of the Wilton (CT) Fire Department. He has a B.A. degree in fire administration and two master’s degrees. He’s a contributing author for Fire Engineering, the Fire Engineering Handbook for Firefighter I and II, and the 7th edition of the Fire Chief’s Handbook.
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