Background

Emergency response workers in America face considerable occupational health and safety hazards in dynamic and unpredictable work environments. Current OSHA emergency response and preparedness standards are outdated and incomplete. They do not address the full range of hazards facing emergency responders, lag behind changes in protective equipment performance and industry practices, conflict with industry consensus standards, and are not aligned with many current emergency response guidelines provided by other federal agencies (e.g., DHS/FEMA). In recognition of the inadequacy of the outdated safeguards provided by the current OSHA standards, the proposed rule seeks to ensure that workers involved in Emergency Response activities get the protections they deserve from the hazards they are likely to encounter while on the job.

About the Rule

The proposed rule would replace OSHA's existing Fire Brigades standard, 29 CFR 1910.156, which was originally promulgated in 1980, covers only a subset of present-day emergency responders (firefighters) and has only had minor updates since it was published.

The focus of the Emergency Response proposed rule is to provide basic workplace protections for workers who respond to emergencies as part of their regularly assigned duties. Notably, the scope of protected workers under the proposed rule would be expanded to include workers who provide emergency medical service and technical search and rescue.