Volunteer Fire Departments express serious concerns about new regulations proposed by OSHA

New rules proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are expected to have a detrimental impact on rural volunteer fire departments in Maine due to the estimated cost of compliance.

As written, these standards would change many of the requirements that firefighters and other first responders must meet.

The current regulations for firefighters – called the Fire Service Standards and not applicable to other first responders – were originally published in 1980 and have not been significantly updated since then.

The rules currently under consideration – collectively called the Emergency Response Standard – would fully replace the fire service standard and would apply not only to firefighters but also to other types of emergency personnel.

According to a summary of the Emergency Response Standard on OSHA’s website, these new rules “would include programmatic elements designed to protect emergency responders from a variety of occupational hazards.”

Federal OSHA regulations apply only to private sector workers by default, but in states that have adopted OSHA-approved state plans, these standards extend to state and local government agencies.

Because the state of Maine recently adopted one of these plans, firefighters in the state will be required to meet these new standards.

While the updated OSHA regulations will impact all fire departments across Maine, concerns have been raised primarily regarding the state’s rural volunteer fire departments.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the vast majority of Maine fire departments rely solely (69.3 percent) or mostly (23.8 percent) on volunteers.

“OSHA’s current emergency response and preparedness standards are outdated and incomplete,” OSHA wrote in a news release. “They do not address the full range of hazards responders face, fail to keep up with changes in the performance of protective equipment and industry practices, are inconsistent with industry consensus standards, and are not consistent with many of the current emergency response guidelines provided by other federal agencies.” .

“Recognizing the insufficiency of outdated protections provided by current OSHA standards,” the agency wrote, “the proposed rule seeks to ensure that workers engaged in emergency response activities receive the protection they deserve from hazards they may encounter while on the job “

According to OSHA, “the proposed emergency response rule focuses on providing basic workplace protections to employees who respond to emergencies as part of their regularly assigned duties.”

“In particular,” the agency explained, “the scope of workers protected under the proposed rule would be expanded to include workers providing emergency medical services and technical search and rescue services.”

Click here for more information from OSHA about the proposed regulations

If these regulations are approved in their current form, the fire department would be required to, among other things, meet new training requirements, conduct certain health assessments and change its procedures for handling turnout devices and other equipment.

Monmouth Fire Chief Dan Roy told WGME that these rules will “really change things and how the fire department operates.”

“You can see the gear behind me. This is our turnout equipment storage system,” Roy said. “Well, under the new standards, we should have rooms that isolate equipment from other parts of the building.”

“We should have showers where we can sanitize our firefighters,” he continued. “We do not have it”.

“We are all concerned about firefighter safety and ensuring a safe workplace,” Roy said. “However, you must use common sense and responsible time frames to ensure compliance.”

“I think everyone is panicking,” Winthrop Fire Chief Dan Brooks said in an interview with WGME. “There are some significant changes going on there and what impact will that have on everyone? It’s hard to know.”

“We support training, we support legislation that is ultimately intended to protect our firefighters,” Brooks said. “But many departments struggle to get employees to commit to joining their departments from the beginning. Then you just add more training and stuff on top of it, and it just complicates it.

Some members of Maine’s congressional delegation have spoken out about the proposed standards in recent weeks, echoing concerns raised by firefighters across the state.

“Addressing firefighter safety in practice is critical to keeping our heroes safe,” Sen. Susan Collins (R) said in an April statement to WGME. “Maine firefighters shared their concerns about the revised emergency response standard proposed by OSHA and how these changes may impact their workforce.”

“Overly onerous training requirements for veteran firefighters with decades of experience may discourage them from continuing to serve their communities,” continued Senator Collins. “Furthermore, I am also concerned about unfunded mandates for rural Maine first responders who are often volunteers.”

Sen. Angus King (I) has not yet commented publicly on his position on the proposed changes.

However, a spokesman for Rep. Jared Golden (D) spoke to WGME about the issue in April, indicating that he is closely following the lawmaking process.

“Maine firefighters contacted Congressman Golden concerned about OSHA’s proposal and have maintained close contact as the rulemaking process unfolds,” the statement said. “The Congressman will insist that the voices of our firefighters be heard, just as he has always advocated for the needs of first responders in the Second District.”

On Wednesday, Rep. Golden signed onto a letter expressing “grave concerns” about the proposed standards, highlighting how the changes would likely lead to the closure of many volunteer fire departments across the country, including in rural Maine.

“This new emergency response standard would impose new written emergency response plans, vulnerability assessments, training, personal protective equipment, medical screenings and behavioral health services, among other requirements,” the letter reads. “OSHA estimates that more than one million emergency responders are expected to fall under the scope of the proposed rule, of which 331,472 individuals identify themselves as volunteers.”

“As worded, this provision fails to address the significant financial and personnel constraints that are unique to the volunteer departments that serve our communities,” the lawmakers continued. “The vast majority of these departments operate on very small budgets or raise funds on their own.”

“Volunteers devote their own time and resources to ensure communities have easy access to emergency services, which are often the only source of response within miles or hours of a response time,” they said.

“While these are excellent practices as best practices, these departments lack the economic resources to implement them as a statutory requirement,” the letter says.

“We believe that as drafted, the new ’emergency standard’ would make both our departments and communities less safe,” the lawmakers conclude. “We hope (OSHA) will take into account the unique circumstances of volunteer departments to ensure they can continue to operate and provide lifesaving services.”

The letter was signed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in which Republicans outnumbered Democrats by more than two to one.

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D) does not appear as a signatory to the letter and has not made a public statement on the matter.

Click here to read the entire letter signed by Rep. Golden

In a Golden press release promoting the letter, retired Chief William St. Michel – executive director of the Maine Fire Chiefs Association – shared many of these sentiments.

“We appreciate OSHA’s support to improve the health and safety of our first responders,” said retired St. Patrick’s Chief. Michel. “However, we believe that the new ’emergency standard’ under the bill will make both our departments and our communities less safe.”

“The main departments employ both volunteer firefighters, on-duty firefighters and full-time firefighters. OSHA’s stated goal is to improve safety standards for those on the front lines and the public it so bravely protects,” said St. Michel. “We are concerned that without the direct input of emergency managers – and the time needed to implement the proposed regulations – a product will be created that is contrary to these goals.”

The 250-page document detailing the new regulations notes that OSHA is “seeking information on alternatives and potential exclusions for small and voluntary organizations that are economically at risk.”

OSHA will be accepting public comments on the proposed emergency response standard from now through June 21.