House committee postpones action on firefighter safety rule
The House of Representatives` Workforce Protections Subcommittee has postponed action on H.R. 1783 that would modify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) “two-in/two-out rule.” The rule requires that two fully equipped firefighters wearing self-contained breathing apparatus remain outside a structural fire to keep track of the firefighters entering the burning building to perform any needed rescue operations. H.R. 1783 would have decreased the number of “outside” firefighters to one.
The committee originally was to move on the proposal as part of its Corrections Day process, a fast-track mechanism for eliminating “dumb, silly, and ludicrous” regulations. On July 11, the subcommittee heard testimony on the OSHA-rule proposal and two other regulations marked for elimination. Harold A. Schaitberger, executive assistant to Alfred K. Whitehead, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), testified against the change in the OSHA safety regulation.
In his testimony, Schaitberger related the IAFF position that the proposed amendment “will impose a death sentence on many firefighters and the citizens they protect and should be renamed the `Kill-a-Firefighter Bill.` “
Accompanying Schaitberger at the hearing were two District of Columbia firefighters donning turnout clothing and equipment, “to show the committee members what they must wear while fighting a fire.”
Included in the IAFF`s testimony were the following points:
Firefighting is a very dangerous profession; firefighters work in an uncontrolled environment. Firefighters accept the risks that come with the job but “can`t accept ill-informed members of Congress who are ready to cavalierly abolish a regulation that ensures firefighters are not endangered or killed needlessly.”
Many firefighters` lives have been lost due to lack of accountability at an incident. Lack of accountability was a major contributing factor to the deaths of four Seattle firefighters in a warehouse fire in January. In February, three firefighters were killed while battling a house fire in Pittsburgh because no one knew they were still inside.
The need for an accountability and rescue team, composed of at least two firefighters, outside a structural fire remains the same whether it`s a small garage fire or a large warehouse fire. The need remains the same whether two or 22 firefighters are inside the burning building.
It became evident that some committee members had misconceptions about the issue, reports George Burke, IAFF director of communications, who adds that the proposal was pulled and will not be brought up again at least until September (after press time). Some committee members, Burke notes, indicated they “would take a second look at safety rules for firefighters.”
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) also is objecting to the change proposed for the OSHA firefighter safety requirement. The modification, IAFC President Tom L. Siegfried warns, “puts the safety and health of fire service personnel in danger.” Statements from the National Fire Protection Association and the Alliance for Fire and Emergency Management opposing the OSHA safety revision also were incorporated into the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee`s records.
On May 1, OSHA issued an official interpretation and a compliance order on the regulation at the request of the IAFF because, the IAFF says, too many fire departments were not adhering to the safety requirement.
