Each year, more than 100 fire fighters die in the line of duty, and additional tens of thousands are injured. While it will never be possible to eliminate every death, many could be avoided if industry consensus standards for safe fire fighting were followed consistently.

Developed by the National Fire Protection Association and other standards-making bodies, industry consensus standards address a wide range of issues, including requirements for protective equipment, safe staffing and fire ground operations, training, fitness and incident command. Developed by all facets of the fire service, government agencies and interested private sector parties, these standards are widely respected as the gold standard for safe fire fighting practices and fire department operations.

To better promote compliance with such standards among local fire departments, the Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act authorizes a study to determine the current extent of such compliance and establish a task force to make recommendations to ensure their broad adoption. The bill was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 1499 by Rep. Perlmutter (D-CO), and reintroduced in the U.S. Senate as S. 602 by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to adopt H.R. 1499 as an amendment to another IAFF priority, H.R. 3791, legislation reauthorizing the FIRE and SAFER grant programs. 

Fire department operations, protective gear and equipment and fire fighter qualifications vary greatly among localities, with such requirements remaining largely a matter of local custom and history. As a result, there is a wide disparity in fire department capabilities, and too many fire departments use outdated policies and ineffective equipment and practices. This not only hampers an effective emergency response, but threatens the health and safety of fire fighters.

Fortunately, the most effective ways to protect fire fighter health and safety are well understood. The National Fire Protection Association and other standards-making bodies have developed industry consensus standards for safe fire fighting practices. These standards have been developed and are supported by all facets of the fire service, as well as government agencies and interested private sector parties. The standards address a wide range of issues, including requirements for protective equipment, safe staffing and fire ground operations, training, fitness and incident command.

Fire Fighter Safety Standards

• The failure to follow industry consensus standards puts both the public and fire fighters at risk. An independent analysis conducted by the Boston Globe found that response time to emergencies in fire departments throughout the nation rose significantly over the past two decades due to a failure to abide by industry consensus standards.

• Fire fighter fatality investigations conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health often cite the failure to follow specific consensus standards as contributing factors to a fire fighter’s death. Providing adequate training and proper equipment, establishing safe staffing levels, following safe operating procedures and ensuring the physical and mental health of fire fighters can help reduce fire fighter fatalities.

• Using an open, consensus-based development process, standards-making bodies such as the National Fire Protection Association develop fire fighter safety standards in concert with members of the fire service as well as industry and government agencies. As a result, fire fighter safety standards are widely respected throughout the fire service, government and private sector.

• The federal government already places minimum requirements on fire departments through the National Incident Management System, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, but many of these requirements are outdated and are not fully consistent with modern fire fighting practices, placing fire fighters and the public at risk.

• The federal government relies on local fire departments to properly implement the National Response Framework in response to any

large-scale disaster. Fire departments and fire fighters must possess certain minimum capabilities to ensure an efficient and effective response.

• Insurance companies use standards compliance data to price homeowner and commercial

property insurance. Widespread standards compliance would result in significantly lower insurance costs for both consumers and businesses.

• Recent surveys by the U.S. Fire Administration have found that a significant percentage of fire departments were unable to effectively respond to many common emergency situations. A more thorough analysis on the status of compliance with consensus standards would assist policy makers in seeking to address these threats to public safety.

• The bill does not require municipalities, fire departments or fire fighters to comply with consensus standards and would place no cost requirement upon such entities. The bill simply tasks the federal government with collecting data on standards compliance among local fire departments and studying ways to increase such compliance.

Michael Heath is president of the St. John Professional Firefighters Association.