DHS Adopts 11 NFPA Standards for Emergency Responders

October 1, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

The newly adopted standards will set requirements to assist federal agencies and state and local officials responsible for procuring equipment and services used by emergency responders.

The documents adopted will provide direction and allow officials to make better procurement decisions in the following areas:

• Professional qualifications.
• Occupational safety and health.
• Fire apparatus.
• Personal protective clothing.
• Powered rescue tools and other equipment.

The 11 newly adopted standards are:

• NFPA 1000 - Standard for Fire Service Professional Qualifications Accreditation and Certification Systems, which establishes the minimum criteria for accrediting bodies; and for the assessment and validation of the process used to certify fire and related emergency response personnel to professional qualifications standards; and of nonengineering, fire-related, academic, degree-granting programs offered by institutions of higher education.

• NFPA 1001 - Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications, which identifies the minimum job performance requirements for career and volunteer fire fighters whose duties are primarily structural in nature.

• NFPA 1002 - Standard for Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Professional Qualifications, which identifies the minimum job performance requirements for fire fighters who drive and operate fire apparatus in both emergency and nonemergency situations.

• NFPA 1006 - Standard for Rescue Technician Professional Qualifications, which establishes the minimum job performance requirements necessary for fire service and other emergency response personnel who perform technical rescue operations.

• NFPA 1021 - Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, which identifies the performance requirements necessary to perform the duties of a fire officer and specifically identifies four levels of progression.

  

• NFPA 1500 - Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, which contains minimum requirements for a fire service-related occupational safety and health program.

• NFPA 1582 - Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments, which contains descriptive requirements for a comprehensive occupational medical program for fire departments.

• NFPA 1901 - Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, which defines the requirements for new automotive fire apparatus designed to be used under emergency conditions to transport personnel and equipment and to support the suppression of fires and mitigation of other hazardous situations.

• NFPA 1906 - Standard for Wildland Fire Apparatus, which defines the requirements for new automotive fire apparatus including apparatus equipped with a slip-on fire fighting module designed primarily to support wildland fire suppression operations.

• NFPA 1912 - Standard for Fire Apparatus Refurbishing, which specifies the minimum requirements for the refurbishing of automotive fire apparatus used for fire fighting and rescue operations, whether the refurbishing is done at the fire department or municipal maintenance facilities or at the facilities of private contractors or apparatus manufacturers.

• NFPA 1936 - Standard on Powered Rescue Tools, which specifies the minimum requirements for the design, performance, testing and certification of powered rescue tool systems and the individual components of spreaders, rams, cutters, combination tools, power units and power transmission cables, conduit or hose. Also applies to the design, manufacturing and certification of newly manufactured powered rescue tool systems.

  The standard does not apply to manually powered tools and shall not apply to small multipurpose tools including, but not limited to, saws, drills, chisels, pry bars, shoring systems and similar tools.

Sources: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), U.S. Fire Administration (USFA).