Emergency Response

Have you seen OSHA’s proposed ER standard?  It will replace 1910.156 and encompass all aspects of emergency response, such as firefighting, fire rescue, emergency medical service, technical rescue (rope/high angle, cave, etc.), vehicle/machinery rescue, water rescue/recovery (land/shore-based, Swiftwater, underwater), search and rescue (urban, mountain, wilderness).  I have gone through the proposed standard and structured it…...

OSHA updated a 2017 Letter of Interpretation in January 2021 and it is causing quite a stir in the anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fertilizer industry and could have impacts on other industries that use NH3.  In this revised LOI, OSHA states… … Therefore, OSHA believes it is possible, and indeed likely, that any given release of…...

Back in February, I broke down the Chemical Safety Board’s new Chemical Incident Reporting Rule (40 CFR Part 1604) and since then we have conducted quite a few safety reviews, emergency response training sessions, and PSM/RMP audits and so far we have not found a single facility that has updated their Emergency Response and/or Emergency…...

OSHA currently regulates aspects of emergency response and preparedness; some of these standards were promulgated decades ago, and none were designed as comprehensive emergency response standards.  Consequently, they do not address the full range of hazards or concerns currently facing emergency responders, and other workers providing skilled support, nor do they reflect major changes in…...

ME-OSHA issued two (2) Willfuls and six (6) serious citations to the Fire Department regarding the Sept. 16, 2019 explosion that killed a Captain in a propane explosion. The citations include up to $22,000 in potential fines for the town relating to violations of equipment and training standards. Here is a breakdown of the citations:…...

NFPA has made a major revision to NFPA 1961, Standard on Fire Hose, 2020 Edition.  The new requirement that 1½ in. to 3 in. attack hose be tested in accordance with:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

I see this practice, keeping cylinders in-service beyond their hydro due dates, and I just want to make everyone aware that although this practice may be complaint with 49 CFR Part 180, it sets up the Emergency Response Team (ERT) with a potentially serious Breathing Air (BA) issue during a response.  There are two failures,…...

We have been using OSHA’s HAZWOPER standard since the 1980’s to establish the absolute minimum training for personnel who would discover and/or respond to uncontrolled releases of hazardous materials.  This HAZMAT training was intended to be a “Step-Progression” style of training, meaning that you would have the baseline level (e.g. Awareness) and then get the…...

At 8:30 a.m. on May 13, 2020, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were working to pressurize portable fire extinguishers. At some point, the extinguisher being worked on by the Employees exploded. Both Employees received severe lacerations to unspecified parts of their bodies. Employee #1 was killed, and Employee #2 was hospitalized due to his injuries. …...