NVFC OSHA Preparedness Assessment |
On February 5, 2024, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to modernize the agency’s “Fire Brigades” standard. This standard was first published and last updated in 1980.
This proposed updated standard would issue hundreds of new requirements that may be very burdensome, and in many cases impossible, for volunteer fire departments to comply with. Specifically, there would be prohibitively restrictive standards on physical exams, new equipment, and the formation of emergency plans that exceed the staffing capabilities of many volunteer departments.
The NVFC seeks to understand the wide-ranging impact this would have on volunteer departments across the U.S. and seeks your help in identifying current capabilities and practices and how these would fit into the proposed revised standards.
You can view the proposed rule here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/02/05/2023-28203/emergency-response-standard.
This rule would likely impact volunteer departments in OSHA plan states and possibly nonprofit volunteer departments in every state. If you are not sure if your state has an OSHA plan, please check out this online map: https://www.osha.gov/stateplans/.