OSHA extends comment period on proposed rule for emergency responders

Washington — OSHA has extended until June 21 the comment period on proposed updates to its emergency response standard.

The agency says in the notice of proposed rulemaking that it’s seeking to “address the full range of hazards currently facing emergency responders.”

Firefighters, emergency medical service providers and other emergency responders are covered under a “patchwork of hazard-specific standards” or State Plan regulations, OSHA says. Current regulations also don’t align with the Department of Homeland Security’s National Incident Management System.

“All of the OSHA standards referred to above were promulgated decades ago, and none was designed as a comprehensive emergency response standard,” the NPRM states.

In addition to replacing its standard on fire brigades (1910.156), OSHA wants to address major changes in performance specifications for protective clothing/equipment and safety and health practices that have “already been accepted by the emergency response community and incorporated into industry consensus standards.”

The proposal also would require employers to obtain baseline medical screenings for first responders and ensure continued medical surveillance when responders are exposed to the byproducts of fires and explosions more than 15 times a year.

The agency notes that its standards don’t apply to volunteer emergency responders, but State Plans may treat volunteers as employees. “OSHA has no authority over how individual states regulate volunteers,” the NPRM states.