Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a)
Scope and Application.
(1) Scope. This section
contains requirements for the organization, training, and personal protective
equipment of fire brigades whenever they are established by an
employer.
(2) Application. The
requirements of this section apply to private fire brigades, such as industrial
fire departments and private or contractual type fire departments. Personal
protective equipment requirements apply only to members of fire brigades
performing interior structural fire fighting activities. The requirements of
this section do not apply to airport crash rescue or forest fire fighting
operations.
(b)
Organization.
(1) Organizational Statement.
The employer shall prepare and maintain a statement or written policy which
establishes the existence of a fire brigade; the basic organizational
structure; the type, amount, and frequency of training to be provided to fire
brigade members; the expected number of members in the fire brigade; and the
functions that the fire brigade is to perform at the workplace. The
organizational statement shall be available for inspection by the Division of
Occupational Safety and Health and by employees or their designated
representatives.
(2) Personnel. The
employer shall ensure that employees who are expected to do interior structural
fire fighting are physically capable of performing duties which may be assigned
to them during emergencies. The employer shall not permit employees with known
heart disease, epilepsy, or emphysema, to participate in fire brigade emergency
activities unless a physician's certificate of the employees' fitness to
participate in such activities is provided. This subsection shall become
effective 60 days after the effective date of this Article.
(c) Training and Education.
(1) The employer shall provide training and
education for all fire brigade members commensurate with those duties and
functions that fire brigade members are expected to perform. Such training and
education shall be provided to fire brigade members before they perform fire
brigade emergency activities. Fire brigade leaders and training instructors
shall be provided with training and education which is more comprehensive than
that provided to the general membership of the fire brigade.
(2) The employer shall ensure that training
and education is conducted frequently enough to assure that each member of the
fire brigade is able to perform the member's assigned duties and functions
satisfactorily and in a safe manner so as not to endanger fire brigade members
or other employees. All fire brigade members shall be provided with training at
least annually. In addition, fire brigade members who are expected to perform
interior structural fire fighting activity shall be provided with an education
session or training at least quarterly.
(3) The quality of the training and education
program for fire brigade members shall be similar to those conducted by such
fire training schools as the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute; Iowa Fire
Service Extension; West Virginia Fire Service Extension; Georgia Fire Academy;
New York State Department, Fire Prevention and Control; Louisiana State
University Firemen Training Program, or Washington State's Fire Service
Training Commission for Vocational Education. (For example, for the oil
refinery industry, with its unique hazards, the training and education program
for those fire brigade members shall be similar to those conducted by Texas A
& M University, Lamar University, University of Nevada-Reno Fire Academy,
or the Delaware State Fire School.)
(4) The employer shall inform fire brigade
members about special hazards such as storage and use of flammable liquids and
gases, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources, and water reactive substances, to
which they may be exposed during fire and other emergencies. The fire brigade
members shall also be advised of any changes that occur in relation to the
special hazards. The employer shall develop and make available for inspection
by fire brigade members, written procedures that describe the actions to be
taken in situations involving the special hazards and shall include these in
the training and education program.
(d) Personal Protective Clothing and
Equipment shall be provided by the employer at no cost to the employee in
accordance with this article commensurate with the fire fighting activity
involved. With respect to structural fire fighting by private fire brigades,
those personal protective clothing and equipment requirements shall be in
accordance with Sections
3402.1,
3402.3,
3403,
3404,
3405,
3406,
3407,
3408, and
3409.
1. New
section filed 9-8-81; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 81, No.
37).
2. Amendment filed 4-29-85; effective thirtieth day thereafter
(Register 85, No. 18).
3. Amendment of subsection (e) filed 8-25-98;
operative 11-23-98 (Register 98, No. 35).
4. Amendment of subsection
(d) and new subsections (d)(1)-(6) filed 8-28-2015; operative 10-1-2015
(Register 2015, No. 35).
5. Amendment of section and NOTE filed
11-7-2022; operative 1-1-2023 (Register 2022, No. 45). Transmission deadline
specified in Government Code section
11349.3(b)
extended 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional
60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-71-20. Filing deadline specified
in Government Code section
11349.3(a)
extended 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional
60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order
N-71-20.
Note: Authority cited: Section
142.3, Labor
Code. Reference: Sections
142.3 and
147.4, Labor
Code.
