The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is proposing rulemaking to issue a new safety and health standard, titled Emergency Response, to replace the existing Fire Brigades Standard that includes a broader scope of protections for emergency responders.
The new standard would address a broader scope of emergency responders, adding EMT personnel, and would include programmatic elements to protect emergency responders from a variety of occupational hazards. The extended comment period closes July 22.
The League is preparing a response. While the majority of what is proposed is already covered for emergency responders under New Jersey’s Public Employee Occupational Safety and Health Act (PEOSH), we are concerned that if the OSHA regulations are enacted, new, potentially federal, regulatory oversight would be required and that would drive up costs for the purchase of new equipment, training, sanitation, testing, and inspections that currently happen under the state’s PEOSH program.
Comments can be submitted at regulations.gov with reference number Docket No. OSHA-2007-0073. Please share your comments with the League via email to Paul Penna at ppenna@njlm.org.
Contact: Paul Penna, Senior Legislative Analyst, ppenna@njlm.org; 609-695-3481, x110.