BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2146 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 23, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Roger Hernández, Chair AB 2146 (Skinner) - As Amended: March 28, 2014 SUBJECT : Occupational safety: firefighters. SUMMARY : Requires the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board) to review standards for firefighters' personal protective equipment, as specified. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires the Standards Board, within 30 days of the adoption by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) of new standards for firefighters' personal protection equipment, to commence a review of existing regulations for personal protective clothing and equipment for firefighters to determine if the new standards provide a greater degree of protection to a firefighter. 2)Provides that if the Standards Board determines that the standards adopted by NFPA provide a greater degree of protection, it shall consider modifying existing regulations to reflect the NFPA standards as a new safety standard for all employers of firefighters in the state. EXISTING LAW establishes the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 for the framework of the state plan. Existing regulations establish standards for the minimum requirements of personal protective clothing and equipment for firefighters when exposed to the hazards of firefighting activities and training activities involving a hazardous environment. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : This bill is sponsored by the California Professional Firefighters, who argues that it is necessary to ensure that firefighter personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE) standards are up-to-date, thereby resulting in a direct and critical effect of reducing the number of job-caused injuries and illnesses sustained by firefighters due to outdated, inadequate PPE. AB 2146 Page 2 National Fire Protection Association PPE Standards The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization established in 1896 comprised of firefighter professionals, industry representatives, and others concerned with fire safety. According to the NFPA website, the organization's mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. NFPA publishes over 300 codes and standards that are designed to minimize the risk and effects of fire by establishing criteria for building, processing, design, service, and installation in the United States, as well as many other countries. It also establishes minimum requirements related to fire prevention and suppression activities, including PPE standards. According to NFPA, its PPE standards are nationally recognized consensus standards updated at least every five years, which firefighter employers may choose to adopt and ascribe to voluntarily. Many employers currently purchase PPE that meet or exceeds the minimum NFPA standards. According to NFPA, in order to ensure the optimum protection of firefighters, regardless of condition, PPE should be updated at least every five years and pulled from the field after ten years, which equates to two NFPA standard cycles. Adherence to the NFPA standards, as well as to a PPE retirement criteria is crucial to ensuring that the clothing and equipment used by firefighters is as up-to-date as possible. NFPA states that fire protection entities that ascribe to such criteria ultimately are able to better protect their first responders by reducing or eliminating altogether those on-the-job injuries that can otherwise be attributed to the use of outdated or inadequate PPE. ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The sponsor of this measure, the California Professional Firefighters, states the following: "Under current law, all employers in California who employ firefighters are required to provide, at minimum, PPE for AB 2146 Page 3 their employees who engage in firefighting activities, which meet specified standards adopted by the CalOSHA Board. With respect to some of the firefighting PPE standards, however, such as firefighter head, hand and wrist protections, the CalOSHA standards have not been updated by the Board in over 25 years. Other state firefighting PPE standards, such as respiratory and body protections have not been updated by the Board in roughly 15 years. Meanwhile, technological advances have brought to market many safer and more effective alternatives for firefighter PPE?. ?While the concept of firefighter PPE has been in existence nearly as long as most fire protection entities, the evolution of these protective garments and equipment -- and their manufacturing standards -- has ultimately been shaped by field experience. For example, after assessing the devastation of the 2007 southern California firestorms, the Blue Ribbon Fire Commission's Task Force (an 18-member independent panel of fire service professionals) published its report, which, among other things, confirmed a key recommendation identified three years prior by the Blue Ribbon Fire Commission after the 2003 southern California fire siege: For those California fire agencies charged with responding to wildland urban interface incidents, the CalOSHA-approved Title 8 requirements governing PPE for firefighters needed to adequately reflect firefighter PPE needs when responding to wildland urban emergencies. Whether mitigating a fire, emergency medical situation, hazardous materials incident or terrorist attack, a firefighter's only means of protection is their PPE, including their turnout coats, pants, helmets, boots, gloves and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), to name a few. The PPE worn by firefighters is intended to encapsulate them and provide protection from the harmful and often deadly outside environment." PRIOR RELATED LEGISLATION : AB 2146 Page 4 AB 2148 (De León) of 2008 would have required the Standards Board to review and adopt revised state regulations that are at a minimum in conformance with the NFPA PPE standards by December 31, 2009. AB 2148 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO California Nurses Association California Professional Firefighters (sponsor) Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091