Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a)
Employer responsibilities. The employer shall:
(1) Decide what type of response will be
provided and who will provide it; and
(2) Create, maintain, and update a written
policy that:
(A) Describes the internal and
outside fire response organizations that the employer will use; and
(B) Defines what evacuation procedures
employees shall follow, if the employer chooses to require a total or partial
evacuation of the worksite at the time of a fire.
(b) Required written policy information.
(1) Internal fire response. If an internal
fire response is to be used, the employer shall include the following
information in the employer's written policy:
(A) The basic structure of the fire response
organization;
(B) The number of
trained fire response employees;
(C) The fire response functions that may need
to be carried out;
(D) The minimum
number of fire response employees necessary, the number and types of
apparatuses, and a description of the fire suppression operations established
by written standard operating procedures for each type of fire response at the
employer's facility;
(E) The type,
amount, and frequency of training that shall be given to fire response
employees; and
(F) The procedures
for using protective clothing and equipment.
(2) Outside fire response. If an outside fire
response organization is used, the employer shall include the following
information in the written policy:
(A) The
types of fire suppression incidents to which the fire response organization is
expected to respond at the employer's facility or worksite;
(B) The liaisons between the employer and the
outside fire response organizations; and
(C) A plan for fire response functions that:
1. Addresses procedures for obtaining
assistance from the outside fire response organization;
2. Familiarizes the outside fire response
organization with the layout of the employer's facility or worksite, including
access routes to controlled areas, and site-specific operations, occupancies,
vessels or vessel sections, and hazards; and,
3. Sets forth how hose and coupling
connection threads are to be made compatible and includes where the adapter
couplings are kept; or
4. States
that the employer will not allow the use of incompatible hose
connections.
(3) A combination of internal and outside
fire response. If a combination of internal and outside fire response is to be
used, the employer shall include the following information, in addition to the
requirements in subsections (b)(1) and (2) of this section, in the written
policy:
(A) The basic organizational structure
of the combined fire response;
(B)
The number of combined trained fire responders;
(C) The fire response functions that may need
to be carried out;
(D) The minimum
number of fire response employees necessary, the number and types of
apparatuses, and a description of the fire suppression operations established
by written standard operating procedures for each particular type of fire
response at the worksite; and
(E)
The type, amount, and frequency of joint training with outside fire response
organizations if given to fire response employees.
(4) Employee evacuation. The employer shall
include the following information in the employer's written policy:
(A) Emergency escape procedures;
(B) Procedures to be followed by employees
who may remain longer at the worksite to perform critical shipyard employment
operations during the evacuation;
(C) Procedures to account for all employees
after emergency evacuation is completed;
(D) The preferred means of reporting fires
and other emergencies; and
(E)
Names or job titles of the employees or departments to be contacted for further
information or explanation of duties.
(5) Rescue and emergency response. The
employer shall include the following information in the employer's written
policy:
(A) A description of the emergency
rescue procedures; and
(B) Names or
job titles of the employees who are assigned to perform
them.
(c)
Medical requirements for shipyard fire response employees. The employer shall
ensure that:
(1) All fire response employees
receive medical examinations to assure that they are physically and medically
fit for the duties they are expected to perform;
(2) Fire response employees, who are required
to wear respirators in performing their duties, meet the medical requirements
of Section 5144 of the General Industry Safety
Orders;
(3) Each fire response
employee has an annual medical examination; and
(4) The medical records of fire response
employees are kept in accordance with Section
3204 of the General Industry Safety
Orders.
(d) Organization
of internal fire response functions. The employer shall:
(1) Organize fire response functions to
ensure enough resources to conduct emergency operations safely;
(2) Establish lines of authority and assign
responsibilities to ensure that the components of the internal fire response
are accomplished;
(3) Set up an
incident management system to coordinate and direct fire response functions,
including:
(A) Specific fire emergency
responsibilities;
(B)
Accountability for all fire response employees participating in an emergency
operation; and
(C) Resources
offered by outside organizations; and
(4) Provide the information required in this
subsection (d) to the outside fire response organization to be
used.
(e) Personal
protective clothing and equipment for fire response employees.
(1) General requirements. The employer shall:
(A) Supply to all fire response employees, at
no cost, the appropriate personal protective clothing and equipment they may
need to perform expected duties; and
(B) Ensure that fire response employees wear
the appropriate personal protective clothing and use the equipment, when
necessary, to protect them from hazardous exposures.
(2) Thermal stability and flame resistance.
The employer shall:
(A) Ensure that each fire
response employee exposed to the hazards of flame does not wear clothing that
could increase the extent of injury that could be sustained; and
(B) Prohibit wearing clothing made from
acetate, nylon, or polyester, either alone or in blends, unless it can be shown
that:
(C) The fabric will withstand
the flammability hazard that may be encountered; or
(D) The clothing will be worn in such a way
to eliminate the flammability hazard that may be
encountered.
(3)
Respiratory protection. The employer shall:
(A) Provide self-contained breathing
apparatus (SCBA) to all fire response employees involved in an emergency
operation in an atmosphere that is immediately dangerous to life or health
(IDLH), potentially IDLH, or unknown;
(B) Provide SCBA to fire response employees
performing emergency operations during hazardous chemical emergencies that will
expose them to known hazardous chemicals in vapor form or to unknown
chemicals;
(C) Provide fire
response employees who perform or support emergency operations that will expose
them to hazardous chemicals in liquid form either:
1. SCBA, or
2. Respiratory protective devices certified
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under 42
CFR Part 84 as suitable for the specific chemical
environment;
(D) Ensure
that additional outside air supplies used in conjunction with SCBA result in
positive pressure systems that are certified by NIOSH under 42 CFR Part 84
;
(E) Provide only SCBA that meet
the requirements of NFPA 1981, Standard on Open-Circuit Self-Contained
Breathing Apparatus for Fire and Emergency Services, 2002 Edition, which is
hereby incorporated by reference; and
(F) Ensure that the respiratory protection
program and all respiratory protection equipment comply with Section
5144 of the General Industry Safety
Orders.
(4) Interior
structural firefighting operations. The employer shall:
(A) Supply at no cost to all fire response
employees exposed to the hazards of shipyard fire response, a helmet, gloves,
footwear, and protective hoods, and either a protective coat and trousers or a
protective coverall; and
(B) Ensure
that this equipment meets the applicable recommendations in NFPA 1971, Standard
on Protective Ensemble for Structural Fire Fighting, 2000 Edition, which is
hereby incorporated by reference.
(5) Proximity firefighting operations. The
employer shall provide, at no cost, to all fire response employees who are
exposed to the hazards of proximity firefighting, appropriate protective
proximity clothing that meets the applicable recommendations in NFPA 1976,
Standard on Protective Ensemble for Proximity Fire Fighting, 2000 Edition,
which is hereby incorporated by reference.
(6) Life safety ropes, body harnesses, and
hardware. The employer shall ensure that:
(A)
All life safety ropes, body harnesses, and hardware used by fire response
employees for emergency operations meet the applicable recommendations in NFPA
1983, Standard on Fire Service Life Safety Rope and System Components, 2001
Edition, which is hereby incorporated by reference;
(B) Fire response employees use only Class I
body harnesses to attach to ladders and aerial devices; and
(C) Fire response employees use only Class II
and Class III body harnesses for fall arrest and rappelling
operations.
(7) Personal
Alert Safety System (PASS) devices. The employer shall:
(A) Provide each fire response employee
involved in firefighting operations with a PASS device; and
(B) Ensure that each PAS device meets the
recommendations in NFPA 1982-1998 Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems
(PASS), which is hereby incorporated be
reference.
(f)
Equipment maintenance.
(1) Personal
protective equipment. The employer shall inspect and maintain personal
protective equipment used to protect fire response employees to ensure that it
provides the intended protection.
(2) Fire response equipment. The employer
shall:
(A) Keep fire response equipment in a
state of readiness;
(B) Standardize
all fire hose coupling and connection threads throughout the facility and on
vessels and vessel sections by providing the same type of hose coupling and
connection threads for hoses of the same or similar diameter; and
(C) Ensure that either all fire hoses and
coupling connection threads are the same within a facility or vessel or vessel
section as those used by the outside fire response organization, or supply
suitable adapter couplings if such an organization is expected to use the fire
response equipment within a facility or vessel or vessel
section.
1. New
section filed 4-14-2005; operative 4-14-2005. Submitted to OAL for printing
only pursuant to Labor Code section
142.3(a)(3)
(Register 2005, No. 15). For prior history, see Register 88, No.
6.
2. New subsections (e)(7)-(e)(7)(B) filed 2-22-2006; operative
2-22-2006. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Labor Code section
142.3(a)(3)
(Register 2006, No. 8).
Note: Authority cited: Section
142.3 Labor
Code. Reference: Section 142.3, Labor
Code.