Standards and Legal Implications
The Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA)
Prior to 1986 little thought was ever given to the legal ramifications of the fire service, or even the emergency response individual not performing to an acceptable level of competence. In 1986 Congress enacted Title III of the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act, the rescue service became accountable for their actions...or lack of. Rescuers are now legally required to perform in a certain way with an acceptable level of success in the outcome of the rescue incident or risk civil and/or criminal litigation. The old mindset, “Hey, we didn’t create this emergency, we did the best we could based on our training” will no longer stand up in court.
OSHA 1910.146 (Confined Space)
General Requirements
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Employers must ID permit required spaces.
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After ID the employees must be informed of the hazards of that space.
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If the space is not to be entered, preventative measures must be taken.
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If entry is to be allowed, a written permit program, compliant with this standard must be developed and shall be available to all affected employees and/or their representatives.
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If any non-permit required space changes, the employer shall reevaluate the space to determine if it is now permit required.
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A permit required space may be changed to non-permit required with the proper evaluation of the space.
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If outside contractors are used to enter the space they must be notified of any potential hazards just as an employee.
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Contractors are responsible for compliance with confined space entry procedures and for coordination of any entry with the ‘host’ employer.
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Training shall be provided for all employees that may enter the space.
Rescue Service Requirements
When provided by onsite personnel the employer shall:
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Ensure that each member is properly trained in use of PPE and rescue equipment.
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Ensure that each is trained to perform the assigned rescue duties.
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Ensure that each is trained in performance of all authorized entrant duties.
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Ensure that each member shall practice making rescues at least once every 12 months by means of simulated operations with manikins, dummies or actual persons from the actual permitted spaces or representative spaces.
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Ensure that each is trained in basic first aid and CPR.
When performed by outside agencies (FIRE DEPARTMENT) the ‘host’ employer shall:
NFPA (ANSI) 1670 and 1006
NFPA 1670 applies to technical rescue procedures of the department, while NFPA 1006 is geared more to the skill level of the individual technician. Because these standards were adopted by ANSI, they both point their legal fingers at the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), or in other words, the local fire department and its leadership. These standards have become very good legal sources of ammunition for industrial injury attorneys.
Most fire departments are very good at providing continued education and documenting the training of its members at the technician level, but if the AHJ is to be consistent with 1670, technical rescue awareness level and operational level training documentation must be addressed as well.
Although these standards imply that the AHJ has a tremendous amount of flexibility over what level of rescue it chooses to be involved in, there is one other notable area of liability. NFPA and ANSI require the AHJ to conduct periodic hazard analysis and risk assessment surveys in the organization’s response area for the purpose of identifying the types of technical rescues that are most likely to occur. These hazard analysis and risks assessments shall by reviewed and updated on a scheduled basis and as operational or organizational changes occur.
Failure of a technical rescue operation is almost always caused by human error, which in most cases, can be traced to the lack of documented quality training, and documented hazard analysis and risk assessment. This is the true spirit in which NFPA 1670 and 1006 were published. This is why 1670 and 1006 were adopted by ANSI, and these are the standards that will be used in a court of law.