Turnout gear legalities

[Kevin Seymour]

We are in the process of developing a commissary system for our
professional metropolitan department. I am seeking information on cases
wherein a Department has been forced to provide protective clothing at
no cost to the firefighters as a result of legal action arising from
OSHA regulations.

I do not need a-friend-of-a-friend-said or “I heard of a department”
accounts; I need to contact people, whether labor or management who have
first hand experience. /also useful would be someone who can site a
source, either a legal proceeding or an article in an industry
publication.

Thank you for any help.

--
Remove ANTISPAM from the address to reply.

[Doug Schmidt]

Kevin,

Check out http://www.osha-slc.gov/FedReg_osha_data/FED19990331.html
you can also do a search a www.osha.gov to get more info. But the
first link speaks directly to your question. Basicly if an employer
requires an employee to work in an environment that requires PPE, the
employer must provide the PPE at no cost to the employee.

Now, having said that, I got to flame a little here. You are talking
about a "Professional Metropolitan Department" That does not provide
PPE to the firefighters? Are you saying that the firefighters have to
buy thier own Turnouts, Helmets, Boots, Gloves etc? What protective
clothing are you talking about specificly? I work for a very VERY
small suburban/rural dept and ALL of our equipment is provided by the
dept. Now if I wanted to get say Leather Boots instead of the dept
issue Rubber Rangers, then I would have to pay the difference in cost.
But that would be the only time I would have to pay for ANY of my PPE.
I find it very hard to believe that there are "Metro" depts out there
that do not provide PPE to the firefighters. I do understand that
some small volunteer agencies may not have the money to provide the
latest and greatest, hopefully they will get some if not most of the
FIRE bill money.
JM2c

Doug Schmidt
FFII/EMT-P
Elizabeth Colorado

[Ben Webster]

New York, being a OSHA state REQUIRES the employer (volunteer FD's are
considered employers as well) to provide ALL protective equipment to the
employees. This includes fire protective clothing, SCBA, physicals, and now
in today's age, hearing protection. A good number of firefighters buy their
own gear, but it is up to the department weather that is acceptable. If you
need actual proceedings where FD's were ordered to comply or were fined, I
suggest contacting your OSHA office (in NYS, it would be NYS Public Employee
Safety and Health administration (PESH) they are on the web (you can get to
them through the NYS home page) OSHA standards: fire brigade, respiratory
protection, general duty clause, et al

"Kevin Seymour" <ANTISPAM...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3A78027B...@earthlink.net...

[Kevin Seymour]

We are issued a new set upon leaving the academy and receive annually
$400 (taxed) for maintenance. Thanks for the pointers.