HARRISBURG, May 2 — State Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, joined by state first responder organizations, fellow government officials, and activists called for the passage of House Bill 1632 in the Capitol’s Main Rotunda. Her legislation would add Post-Traumatic Stress Injury as an eligible claim for first responders filing for workers’ compensation. O’Mara said her measure, echoed by […]
CANTON, Ohio (WJW) – Three people were taken to the hospital after a crash involving a local fire department’s tanker truck and a semi-truck in Canton Saturday morning. The crash happened around 10:27 a.m. in the 2800 block of Faircrest Street SW. According to Canton fire officials, an East Sparta Fire Department tanker truck was heading […]
A 94-year-old Villager’s wild ride ended with her vehicle crashing into the back of an ambulance. The Village of Springdale woman was transported to UF Health-The Villages Hospital after her blue 2023 Hyundai Tucson utility vehicle at 7:38 p.m. Tuesday crashed into the rear of an ambulance from The Villages Public Safety Department, according to […]
All, The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service is today-Sunday May 5th at 1000 Hours eastern – and can be viewed HERE: https://www.youtube.com/live/ZRtye6Gv7bE?si=JckicaWExLOMqSBS Take Care. Be Careful. Pass It On. BillyG The Secret List 5/5/2024–0800 Hours www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com
By Frank Wilkes Lesnefsky Staff Writer May 3, 2024 CARBONDALE — City firefighters opposed a decision Thursday night to outsource Carbondale’s paid firefighters to a staffing agency while city officials asserted the current system is unsustainable. City council voted 5-2 during Thursday’s special meeting to enter into an agreement with the nonprofit Cottage Ambulance Foundation […]
A newly released after-action report reveals D.C. call takers and supervisors didn’t make clear the severity of the disaster unfolding, didn’t have the codes they needed to do their job and didn’t act as fast as they could, wasting nearly 15 minutes before telling everyone involved that people and dogs were trapped and in danger […]
It’s hard to escape the constant news and chatter around artificial intelligence. AI is a game-changer in the tech world – and, really, in everyday life – and it’s here to stay. The fire service is no exception, and it’s time for fire officials to embrace these changes and understand how AI can impact their […]
Halloween is creeping up on us. The rush is on to find the perfect pumpkin, the spookiest costume, and the best candy for trick-or-treaters. However, along with all this excitement comes potential fire hazards related to seasonal decor and costumes. Fortunately, fire risks can be avoided by following the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Halloween safety precautions.
Knowing that today’s homes burn faster than ever, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) announced “Every Second Counts: Plan Two Ways Out” as the official theme for this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, October 8-14, 2017. Experts say you may have as little as two minutes (or even less) to safely escape a typical home fire from the time the smoke alarm sounds.
Fire chiefs from France, the United Kingdom, and the United States gathered in Quincy, Massachusetts at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Urban Fire Forum (UFF) to listen to first-hand accounts of some of the biggest emergency response incidents over the past 15 months, including hurricane response in Texas and Florida, the Grenfell Tower fire in London, and the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando.
NFPA Senior Chemical Engineer Matthew Barker also contributed to this blog.
Hot work continues to be one of the most significant industrial hazards facing the world. But with the help of longstanding and recently updated resources from NFPA®, the fire and life safety risks associated with hot work can be significantly reduced.
What is hot work?
Hot work refers to any process that involves open flames, sparks, or heat-producing tools and equipment. This can include activities such as welding, cutting, brazing, soldering, grinding, and other similar processes that generate heat and sparks. Hot work processes have the potential to ignite flammable materials, gas, or vapors in the surrounding environment, leading to fires or explosions if proper precautions are not taken.
Alarming data
Between 2017 and 2021, fire departments in the United States responded to an estimated average of 3,396 structure fires involving hot work each year, according to the latest data from NFPA. These fires caused an estimated yearly average of 19 civilian deaths and 120 civilian injuries.Statistics on hot work–related injuries and deaths to workers paint an even grimmer picture. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 500,000 workers are injured in welding accidents alone each year, and the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has found that hot work is one of the most common causes of worker death among incidents that it investigates.
SOURCE: NFPA Research
This year alone, there have been multiple incidents involving hot work, some fatal. In April 2023, two people were injured in Missouri when a metal drum they were cutting into exploded. A month prior, a firefighter in Buffalo, New York, was killed in a four-alarm fire where there was a partial building collapse due to a fire that started from workers handling torches in the area. Internationally, a fire that was started by welding sparks left 29 people dead in Bejing in April.
What are the associated hot work fire hazards?
When you are performing hot work, there is potential to bring together the three parts of the fire triangle: oxygen, fuel, and an ignition source. There is oxygen present in all spaces where workers perform hot work — the air we breathe is made of 21 percent oxygen under normal conditions. Special consideration should be given around sources of pure oxygen, such as oxygen tanks, which could elevate the oxygen concentration in the air, increase the potential for materials to ignite, and greatly contribute to the intensity of any fires that start.
Potential fuel sources include all materials which could be ignited, such as construction materials, insulation, roofing materials, ignitable (flammable and combustible) liquids, gases, paint, cleaning solvents, as well as simple combustibles in the area like rags, paper, wood, dust, cardboard, and furnishings. Another fuel source that is often overlooked is the item that hot work is performed on. If not monitored properly, the hot work could create enough heat to ignite that item.
Lastly, the ignition source is as simple as the hot work itself. This can occur through direct application with flames or sparks from welding, cutting, and burning. Ignition can also occur through indirect application where heat is radiated through the air or conducted through metal surfaces to fuel sources nearby.
What are methods to minimize fire hazards?
An effective process to minimize fire hazards includes three simple steps: recognize, evaluate, and control. The first step is to recognize the type of hot work that is to be performed and potential fuel hazards that might be present in the work area. The second step is to evaluate what hazards are present and the likelihood of the fuel and ignition sources coming together based on the type of hot work. Finally, the third step is to control the hazards by taking appropriate steps to eliminate or minimize the fire risk.
Furthermore, all hot work should be properly permitted before it is started. The act of competing a proper hot work permit form will ensure that the recognize, evaluate, and control steps are followed and formally documented.
Solutions from NFPA
NFPA offers hot work safety resources in the form of both codes and standards and online training.
Nearly 60 years ago, NFPA released the first edition of its hot work standard, NFPA 51B, Standard for Fire Prevention During Welding, Cutting, and Other Hot Work. OSHA values the benchmarks set by the standard so much that they incorporated it into general industry regulations for welding, cutting, and brazing (29 CFR 1910.252). The standard is also referenced in other notable NFPA documents such as NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations. NFPA 51B provides guidelines for conducting hot work safely, including measures to prevent the ignition of combustible materials, and proper qualifications for personnel performing hot work, fire watch and appropriate use of fire-resistant materials and equipment, along with training and qualifications for personnel performing hot work, fire watch, and appropriate use of fire-resistant materials and equipment.
Recently, NFPA updated the Hot Work Safety Certificate Online Training (also available in Spanish). The training provides attendees with in-depth knowledge of identifying and reducing hot work hazards, and is ideal not only for individuals who will be performing hot work, but also those issuing hot work permits and anyone responsible for fire safety on a site where hot work will be performed.
Simply put, hot work fires can result in avoidable death, injury, and property loss. Hot work introduces an ignition source where one would not normally be, increasing the potential for a fire. Therefore, the top safety recommendation is to determine whether there is an alternative to hot work. By avoiding hot work, the risk of an unintended fire is minimized. However, the reality for most industry sectors is that hot work is necessary and unavoidable to complete many construction and repair projects. So, to ensure that hot work is performed safely, all parties involved need to understand the governing requirements, associated hot work hazards, and methods to minimize fire hazards through completing a training such as the Hot Work Safety Certificate Online Training. When everyone follows safe hot work practices, the chance of a deadly hot work fire is drastically reduced.
In my continuing effort to keep interested parties apprised of the latest standards activity related to firefighting gear and conversations about the presence of PFAS, the second draft of the upcoming edition of NFPA 1970, Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural and Proximity Firefighting, Work Apparel and Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) for Emergency Services, and Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) has been posted online. The second draft is now available for submission of NITMAMs through November 1, 2023. (See below for explanation of a NITMAM.)
Updating my previous blog, the Technical Committee responsible for NFPA 1970 removed the xenon arc light test from the standard, not just as a stand-alone test method as proposed in the first draft of NFPA 1970, but also from the proposed multi-conditioning procedure (9.1.21). Additionally, the Committee substantively changed the multi-conditioning procedure, which they described as intended to replicate the wear and tear a typical outer shell may experience (9.1.21).
The Second Draft Report also incorporates other proposed changes the Committee made after the First Draft, including (but not limited to) the following:
· Added explanatory material for the definition of PFAS; explaining that the measurement of PFAS in the standard is performed to report the total levels of PFAS in protective clothing materials and measuring levels of specific PFAS chemicals against restricted substance levels. (A.3.3.133)
· Added specific testing requirements to verify a manufacturer’s “PFAS-FREE” gear claim. (6.5.11)
· Added a requirement to make reported test results available as part of the user information. (6.5.12, 8.14.3, & Table 8.21(a))
· Revised the procedure and application for contamination removal efficiency testing, which was introduced in the First Draft. (9.9.3)
· Updated a list of restricted substances (Sections 8.21 & 9.10)
· Added a more extensive listing of requirements for per- and polyfluorinated compounds, including tests for total fluorine and total extractable organic fluorine. (Sections 8.21 & 9.10)
· Added a new test method for liquid barrier performance, as measured by impact penetration and hydrostatic penetration, to protect against bloodborne pathogens. (Section 9.11)
· Deleted the tests for liquid repellency and for leaching of material substances. (Sections 9.76 and 9.77 in the First Draft)
The deadline to file a NITMAM is November 1, 2023.
The Second Draft Report is posted and will be open for Notice of Intent To Make a Motion (NITMAM) until November 1, 2023. A NITMAM is a proposed amending motion for NFPA Membership consideration and debate at the NFPA Technical Meeting. These motions are attempts to amend the Committee’s recommended text published in the Second Draft. The NFPA Technical Meeting provides an opportunity for the NFPA Membership to propose amendments the Technical Committee Reports (i.e., the Committee’s work) on each proposed new or revised Standard. If certified by the Motions Committee and introduced at the Technical Meeting as a Certified Amending Motion, the NITMAM can provide an additional opportunity for discussion and debate at the Technical Meeting, which takes place at the NFPA Conference & Expo® each June.
A NITMAM may be filed by anyone not satisfied with the work of the Committee and who meets the requirements of 4.5.3.5(c) or 4.5.3.6 of the Regulations. For more information on NITMAM please visit this webpage. Please see NFPA Technical Meeting for additional information on the topic. Depending on the results of the NITMAM process and the Technical Meeting, NFPA 1970 will proceed to the NFPA Standards Council for potential issuance in late 2023 if no NITMAMs are submitted and certified or in late summer of 2024 if NFPA 1970 has Certified Amending Motions under consideration at the NFPA Technical Meeting in June of 2024.
Throughout the process to update NFPA 1970, the latest information can be found at nfpa.org/1970next.
The Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF), the research affiliate of NFPA®, will host a free webinar on September 28, 2023, titled “Fire Service PPE Cleaning Validation.”
Firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) is exposed to a wide range of toxic chemicals, biological pathogens, and other hazardous substances and contaminants. Those contaminants soil firefighter PPE and other fire service gear. Cross-contaminated equipment and gear are suspected of adversely influencing immediate and long-term firefighter health and wellness. To lessen the risk of these exposures, PPE and other gear are being cleaned more frequently. NFPA 1851, Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, address general cleaning procedures, but more science is needed to support, clarify, and enhance those procedures. Major research efforts are addressing the question of “How clean is clean?”
In late 2015, FPRF initiated PPE cleaning validation research through a 3-year assistance to firefighters grant (AFG) for developing comprehensive procedures to evaluate cleaning in removing both chemical and biological contaminants that ensure optimum contaminant removal from firefighter PPE. As part of this larger effort, FPRF is leading a unique research team partnership that also includes International Personnel Protection, Inc. (IPP, Inc.) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This research established validated cleaning procedures focused on PPE textile garments that are traditionally cleaned in commercial laundering extractors that led to the implementation of gear cleaning and sanitization verification procedures adopted as part of NFPA 1851.
A second phase effort was undertaken in late 2018 to establish a validated and scientifically based cleaning methodology for the primary spectrum of potentially contaminated fire service PPE, including turnout clothing and equipment not addressed by previous work such as helmets, gloves, footwear, and SCBA. The research in this project has expanded the available knowledge on fireground contamination, particularly to where it is likely to be found at the highest concentrations and how effectively it can be removed from the range of different firefighter PPE. The findings from this work show that different protective clothing and equipment items being of distinctive designs and comprised of dissimilar materials show varying affinities for becoming contaminated and in being able to be decontaminated.
A third phase effort is now ongoing that augments the prior two phases of research to establish and communicate comprehensive best practices the fire service can apply to effectively clean and sanitize firefighter PPE. The principal aim for this new effort is to comprehensively identify the most effective and practical decontamination approaches for each element of the firefighter ensemble to create simple, easy-to-implement tools that fire departments can use to assess PPE contamination from individual structural fires and the effectiveness of their internal cleaning procedures.
This webinar will provide an update of findings from this multi-year research effort. Jeffrey Stull, International Personnel Protection, Inc., and Crystal Forester, NIOSH NPPTL, are the presenters of this webinar.
Webinar registration is free and required to attend live; register for this webinar using the direct link here, or by visiting nfpa.org/webinars, where you can also watch archived FPRF webinars on demand.
The Fire Protection Research Foundation acknowledges the support from the FPRF 2023 Webinar Series Sponsors:
· AXA XL Risk Consulting
· Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc.
· Telgian Engineering and Consulting
· The Zurich Services Corporation
· Worcester Polytechnic Institute Fire Protection Engineering Program
To learn more about this project, visit nfpa.org/ppecleaning.
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