According to BusinessInsurance.com, the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is contemplating new regulations aimed specifically at firefighters. Published last week, the article lists several areas that OSHA is looking at, including mandatory medical examinations to help address the cardiac risk and banning sliding poles due to injuries.
The article quotes Bill Hamilton, a fire protection engineer with OSHA, as saying: “OSHA recognizes that there are a lot of injuries from people sliding down poles and hitting the bottom too hard, and one way of reducing those injuries is to eliminate the installation of new poles and instead provide stairs or slides.”
The article indicates that OSHA has asked the National Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health for input on “a proposed emergency responder preparedness program standard”
The National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health website indicates that they were meeting last month to discuss a proposed “rule” covering “medical evaluation and fitness requirements, facility and equipment preparedness, vehicle preparedness and operation, pre-incident planning, emergency incident standard operating procedures, post-incident analysis, and program evaluation”.