Firefighters union emphatically backs new safety proposal

(The Center Square) – Spending money on safety is clear, says the nation’s leading firefighter safety union, and it expects local and state governments to do the same.

Emphatically backing the Emergency Response Standard proposed by OSHA, the International Association of Fire Fighters endorses the 46 minimum industry standards, or equivalency of meeting them.

Evan Davis, testifying for the union June 4 before a Homeland Security subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives, said, “The sole question we are wrestling with is whether this ERS should be imposed on local and state governments nationwide. The answer is a resounding yes.”

Davis is director of Government Affairs for the union. The proposal of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had a public comment period that ended Monday, and union officials told The Center Square they planned to make a submission.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce in the House, and 23 other members of Congress urged interim Labor Commissioner Julie Su to withdraw the rule.

The letter pointed out additional administrative tasks; increased medical and physical requirements, impacting recruiting and possibly disqualifying volunteers; and more paperwork in the private sector industries such as manufacturing, oil and gas and warehousing.

Sean DeCrane, director of Health and Safety for the union, says focusing on volunteer fire departments misses the point on improving public and firefighter safety. He says “it’s about time” the regulations were put into place.

“Our communities depend on our firefighters,” DeCrane told The Center Square in a telephone interview. “Our communities are not investing in the fundamental health and safety of our members.”

He mentioned specifically the call for hazard risk assessment.

“How do you staff a department if you don’t know what the risks are?” DeCrane said. “OSHA is saying you have to conduct this risk assessment and have a plan to meet these identified risks. And you have to train your firefighters to meet this risk.”

The proposal would replace the fire brigades standard and broaden “the scope of entities covered beyond firefighting service to include entities that provide technical research and rescue and emergency medical services."

Foxx is not opposed to better safety. Yet the “one-size-fits-all” changes, she says, will mandate “massive administrative burdens and costs that will worsen existing challenges in recruiting and retaining emergency responders.”

DeCrane said the changes could have impact on firefighters comparable to the self-contained respiratory apparatus.

In his testimony, Davis said in conclusion, “Safety standards come with financial costs, but so do line-of-duty funerals, PSOB payments and wrongful death lawsuits.”

PSOB is an acronym for public safety officer’s benefits.

“A basic industry minimum safety standard,” he said, “such as the proposed ERS, could significantly reduce these costs.”