Question: Would you/Do you permit 2-way radios, and their attachments, that do NOT carry a rating for HAZLOCs (Class I, Div 1/2) to be used inside a Level A suit?
Recently I was asked to help a client in the great state of NM with their emergency response capabilities. Our first step was to assess their needs and their in-house capabilities and to use the local fire department(s) to fill in the gaps. This is a large facility with it’s own well staffed, trained and equipped ERT; but the plant management was adamant that while I was on site for the week that they wanted to have time with the local LEPC staff and the heads of the FD’s that may be called to provide assistance in any of the emergencies we manage for (i.e. chemical, medical, fire, PRCS/HA rescue). It was during a casual meeting over lunch that we discovered, what we felt, was a serious concern; the FD leadership thought it was not a concern and that they had bigger issues to worry about. In the end, the facility purchased new equipment for the local FD’s (4 of them) so that they could respond safely. The FD’s seemed to have the same logic and it turns out they had the same salesperson as well! Here is their logic, would you follow this risk rationale:
First, these FD’s were all Volunteer FD’s. But like many of the rural parts of the country, the ERT members from the plant were heavily involved with their Vol. FD. The site ERT members knew all too well about HAZLOC’s and Intrinsically Safe equipment as we had fought this battle over 10 years ago regarding their unit communication devices. It just never dawned on them to actually check/verify the radios their Vol. FD(s) were using were “intrinsically safe”.
The question came about when we began talking about Anhydrous Ammonia and their abilities to respond to a release. That led us down the path of talking about the 1984 Shreveport, LA NH3 explosion, of which only a couple of them had even heard of. There were a few that still were not aware of NH3 being a CAT 2 Flammable Gas since it is transported as a “non-flammable gas” under DOT definitions. So I saw a teaching moment and grabbed one of their radios to show them how they can tell their radios are “intrinsically safe” and to our surprise, they were NOT.
Having spent over 30 years as a responder I was shocked that any responder would use anything but an intrinsically safe radio. But as we sat there in disbelief, how this happened became very clear. When the radios were bought, after the 911 attacks, the salesperson suggested that since the FD only fights fires, they could get a nicer model radio if they went with one that did not “carry all the safety ratings”. Thus the decision was made that having a multi-channeled radio was more critical than having an intrinsically safe radio.
That worked well for a number of years, but as the FD(s) grew in size, the community started to put some demands on them if they wanted all this money for equipment. So the new leadership began having members trained in HAZMAT and PRCS Rescue. Through all of the training classes with all the different training organizations, they all swore over and over again that no-one had ever asked about their radio’s (or flashlights!) HAZLOC ratings.
Two of these Chief/Asst. Chiefs were rightfully embarrassed and were on the phone within minutes calling and asking for their dept. radios to be checked; hoping their officer radios may be different as they would never respond into a HOT zone. But some of the other departments seemed to have a solution…
“Since all of our responses are done in Level A, there is no concern since the radio(s) are inside the suit with the responder”. (paraphrased)
The room fell silent as most of us were not sure if this spokesman was serious or if this was a joking way to break the tension in the room. What seemed like minutes passed, and one of the Chiefs who was aware of the need, asked them if they were serious. And their response was “Yes”.
So when we meet with our Local responders, make sure they are PROPERLY equipped to respond to your emergencies. Ask all the detailed questions, such as “Do you test your Level A suits annually yourself or do you hire a 3rd Party to do the testing?” Watch their facial expressions! Also, be ready for the old debate…
“We don’t have to do all that stuff as we do not fall under OSHA”
Just this week I posted another Line Break Gone Bad where all the protocols for venting a Chlorine line were in place – something went wrong – and as the operator was exiting the area his SAR line got caught on a pipe and pulled his mask away from his face, he lost his face-to-mask seal, inhaled a lethal dose of Cl2 and was dead in less than 24-hrs! Do we really want our local FD’s responding if they are not meeting the OSHA MINIMUMS when it comes to something as critical as respiratory protection! Heck, I have a local client who upgraded their SCBA to 4500 psi systems and gave the local FD their older 2216 psi SCBA’s. Perfect condition and were a major UPGRADE to what the FD had at the time. This was a $35,000 donation and all we asked was that they meet NFPA 1404 or 29 CFR 1910.134. The client even offered to pay for me to train their personnel on these requirements and to write and implement a dept respirator program. In February the client met with the FD for their annual tour. They took pictures to document the event (RMP needs) and in the pictures, I could see some of the FF’s with serious facial hair!!!
But back to our “radios inside a LEVEL A”, would you permit this approach to be taken on YOUR property while responding to a release of YOUR HAZMAT, functioning under YOUR “unified command”? When we need them, we call them – when they arrive, they arrive FULLY PREPARED!