HOW SAFE IS YOUR FIRE STATION?

HOW SAFE IS YOUR FIRE STATION?

The fire and rescue service safety movement has correctly concentrated its efforts on the areas of greatest loss: apparatus and response, fireground operations, personal protective equipment, and physical fitness. These efforts are paying off with a reduction in firefighter fatalities.

One area of fire service safety that has received less attention is fire department facilities. According to NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Sendee Occupational Safety and Health Program, a fire department facility is any building or area owned,operated, occupied, or used by a fire department on a routine basis and may include fire and rescue stations, training academies, and communication centers. Fire department facilities do not include those facilities not normally under firedepartment control. This article focuses on some of the common hazards and codeviolations found in the fire station.

Chapter 7 of NFPA 1500 addresses requirements for facility safety, including the following:

  • Compliance with all legally applicable health, safety, building, and fire code requirements.
  • Facilities for disinfection, cleaning, and storage in accordance with NFPA 1581, Standard on Fire Department Infection Control Program. NFPA 1581 prohibits the cleaning and disinfecting of protective clothing and equipment, portable equipment, and other clothing in areas used for food preparation, the cleaning of food and cooking utensils, personal hygiene, and sleeping and living. Also required for disinfection are two sinks with a sprayer attachment, a rack with a drain to the sewer, medical-type nongrasp handles on faucets, and hot and cold water.
  • Smoke detectors interconnected in work, sleeping, and general storage areas.
  • Compliance with NFPA 101. Life Safety Code®.
  • Ventilation for vehicle exhaust emissions.
  • Designated smoke-free areas including work, sleeping, kitchen, and eating areas.
  • A system to maintain facilities and to promptly correct any safety or health hazards or code violations.
  • Monthly inspections to identify and correct any safety or health hazards.
  • Annual documented and recorded inspections to determine compliance with all legally applicable health, safety, building. and fire code requirements.

These last two requirements often are difficult to fully comply with due to the vast number of potential requirements, a lack of fire service knowledge concerning fire station safety hazards, and the fire station’s being perceived as a safe place in comparison to the fireground.

Due to the multitude of codes and standards, it is difficult to start a program without some basic knowledge of the common types of safety and health hazarils you can encounter in fire stations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (()SI IA) standards referenced may be applicable if you live in an “OSHA plan state” (a state that has accepted enforcement of federal OSHA requirements by a state agency). If not, many of the hazards may be covered by some other local ordinance or your workers’ compensation insurance carrier. Even if you are not required to comply, failure to do so could result in legal action if an accident occurs. Use this article as a practical how-to guide and to provide answers to problems you may encounter while you conduct the inspection.

Before beginning an inspection, you will need top management’s support — whether in the form of directives, personnel, equipment, or funding. To keep the program going, you must do a lot of legwork to ensure that deficiencies are corrected in a timely manner.

FIRE STATION FATALITIES

According to U.S. Fire Administration fatality summaries from 1983 to 1991, 13 firefighters have died at fire stations from causes other than cardiovascular system deaths. These deaths include six falls, two carbon monoxide poisonings, and one each electrocution, vehicle back-crushing trauma, steam boiler explosion, overturned tractor crushing trauma, and homicide. At least one of the firefighters died in a hose tower accident while hanging wet hose. In my experience, the hose tower ladder is the most common fall hazard that can result in a traumatic accident in the fire station.

THE HOSE TOWER

The common vertical hose tower hangs wet hose, folded in half, a distance of 25 feet. The hose generally is designed to be hung above head level on the bottom of the tower, which adds six to 10 feet. The resulting height of the hose tower is 31 to 35 feet or more. The steel ladder going up the inside of the tower to provide access to the hose is 25 to 35 feet long. Both OSHA and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) have detailed specifications for straight ladders. These specifications generally are not followed when hose towers are built and not upgraded as technology evolves. These standards prohibit straight ladders in excess of 20 feet unless additional precautions are taken to reduce the hazard of falling off the ladder. Some other common hazards/code violations include the following:

  • Failure to inspect the ladder on a regular basis.
  • Rung clearance behind the ladder less than seven inches.
  • Caged ladder in excess of 30 feet of unbroken length.
  • Step-across distance in excess of 12 inches.
  • Side rails less than 16 inches wide.
  • Inadequate protection from corrosion.
  • Rung spacing greater than 12 inches.
  • Landing platforms without guardrails.
  • Cage that starts below seven feet or greater than eight feet above a landing.
  • Ladder extensions less than 42 inches above the landing.
  • Ladder pitch less than 75 degrees or more than 90 degrees.
  • Substandard welding.
  • Unsecured attachment bolts.
  • How do you rectify a noncompliant hose ladder? You have a number of options, including the following:
  • Install a ladder safety device.
  • Install alternate tread stairs to replace the ladder. To visualize alternate tread stairs, picture climbing a normal staircase and imagine that the unused portion of each step is removed. {Note: Alternat trcad stairs allow for steeper installation angles and often are less expensive than a standard stairway.)
  • Install a ladder cage.
  • Abandon the use of the tower and use a hose dryer instead.
  • In some stations, a stairway already accesses the top of the hose tower. You
A walk-through of your facility will help you identify electrical problems that need correction. This belt requires further guarding.This electricaldouble gang box has several serious code violations: no cover plate, an unapproved box used in a wet and damp location, circuit not grounded, and stranded wire used instead of solid core conductors. (Photos by author.)

(Photos by author.)

could abandon the ladder and use this stairway.

Sun-dry the hose.

GUARDRAILS

Elevated floor areas that have open sides require guardrails when the fall distance is greater than four feet. The probability of a fall resulting in traumatic injuries increases as the height increases and when the area below is a nonflexible surface such as hard-packed earth, concrete. or asphalt. The fatality rate increases dramatically at a 10-foot fall distance, according to Maryland OSHA statistics. Areas commonly in need of guardrails are hose tower platforms, storage areas, stairwell landings, outside areas such as decks, and possibly building roofs if the area is often used for training (including training f towers).

Guardrails form a system designed to prevent accidental falls. The system includes top rails at 42 inches, midrails at 21 inches, support posts at specified distances. and oftentimes toe boards. Guardrail construction should conform to OSHA and ANSI specifications, which allow latitude in construction materials.

The top rail must support a 2()()-lb. load applied along the rail in any direction. This is not an impact load. Do not test the rails by standing on them. Rather, use a shake test (move the rails and posts) to determine stability. Obviously, you should never use guardrails as an anchor point for rappelling.

STAIRS AND STAIR RAILS

Another source of fall potential, although most likely less traumatic, is the stairs. The treads should be reasonably slip-resistant and the nosing (edge of the tread surface) should have a nonslip finish. Treads wear out. so replace them as often as necessary to maintain a slip-resistant surface.

The open sides of stairways require rails (to prevent falls over the side) when there are four or more risers. The rail height should be between 30 and 34 inches measured vertically from the upper surface of the top rail to the surface of the tread in line with the face of the riser at the forward edge of the tread. The number of rails depends on the width of the stairs and the number of open or closed sides.

Hand rails must be easy to grasp, no more than two inches in diameter, and at a height of not less than 34 and not more than 38 inches above the nosing of treads and landings. They must be continuous and extend beyond the last step.

ELECTRICAL HAZARDS

Tlie most common source of electrical hazards in the fire station is maintenance once the systems are installed. Conduct a walk-through of the electrical systems and identify major hazards. Start on the outside at the service entrance. If the utility lines are aboveground, pay special attention to the location of the overhead lines in relation to the facility. A number of firefighters have been seriously injured, one fatally, as the result of contacting an overhead power line at the station with an aluminum ground ladder.

If your station has an aerial ladder or tower, specify locations where it is safe to raise the ladder/tower/boom to avoid contact with lines. A general rule of thumb is to maintain a 10-foot clearance for lines 50,000 volts or less (to prevent the current from jumping) and expand this distance by 0.4 inches for every 1,000 volts over 50,000 or twice the length of the line insulator (which varies according to voltage). but never less than 10 feet.

Once inside the station, find the main electrical panel. Keep the area in front of the panel free of storage. You can use black and yellow striped tape to remind personnel to keep the area clear. In general, the area should be 30 inches wide by 36 inches deep for the common panel. (See the National Electrical Code for an explanation of the distance requirements.) There are some exceptions in the OSHA standards for older panels installed before 1981.

Identify the circuit breakers on the panel by function or area of coverage with a simple list on the panel door, a numbered facility diagram on the wall next to the panel, etc. Update the list as circuits change, and periodically reprint it —and make sure the list is readable.

Make sure that openings in the panel cover are properly enclosed to avoid live parts from being exposed. A visually impaired person should be able to safely turn off any breaker without receiving an electric shock. You can purchase blanks to fill holes at any electrical supply house if you know the panel’s make and model. Electrical tape is not an acceptable hole cover. Receptacles and junction boxes also must be covered with appropriate plates.

GROUNDING ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

If portable or fixed equipment comes with a ground prong (pin) on the male attachment plug, its purpose is to provide a continuous path to ground if hazardous voltage escapes from the machine or equipment. If this prong is missing, the firefighter operating the tool or equipment may become the path to ground and receive a fatal electric shock. Sometimes these prongs get cut off or break off from use. They do not last as long as the hot and neutral prongs. Replace them with ULlisted prongs that are compatible with the cord and the use of the equipment. A 110volt circuit can kill under the right circumstances.

The use of extension cords instead of fixed wiring becomes a problem as a facility expands beyond its intended design Expansion requires the installation of additional outlets

Ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) are designed to interrupt the current to reduce the time a person is in contact with it. (IFCls should be installed in areas that are wet or could be wet. such as bathrooms, apparatus bays, boiler rooms, roofs, outside lighting circuits, and kitchens. They are easy to install improperly.

Receptacles can become damaged and wear out. A circuit tester, including a GFCI tester, should be part of your inspection kit. Reverse polarity is a common condition at outlets. Flexible cables need relief from the strain of being pulled. The outer jacket pulls away and, if not corrected, the conductors can be exposed.

Eight bulbs need protection from physical damage when located within seven feet of the floor. Protection can be in the form of bulb sleeves or covers or plasticlenses.

(A‘ate: If your personnel are working on energized circuits or deenergized fixed equipment or circuits, you may be covered by OSHA’s lockout tagout standard or NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces.

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

Why do you have to verify that fireextinguishers are charged, inspected, and tested at regular intervals? In 1991 I was conducting an inspection at a fire station when I discovered a Co extinguisher that had not been hydrostatically tested since 1968. Both OSHA and NFPA standards require that such extinguishers be hydrostatically tested every five years. This extinguisher made it through 6,570 daily apparatus checks (or if the apparatus was checked weekly, 936 inspections). Had this extinguisher fallen off the apparatus and failed, it could have rocketed and caused extensive damage. Follow NFPA 10, Standard for Portable Extinguishers, and have a local extinguisher company service all the extinguishers in your facility and on your apparatus. A properly maintained extinguisher is cheap insurance and just might put out a fire some day.

PRESSURE VESSELS AND CYLINDERS

In 1993 one of the firefighters who died in the line of duty was killed by an exploding high-pressure air cylinder during a refilling operation. In 1986 a firefighter died in a steam boiler explosion in a fire station. In 1975 a firefighter was killed when a pressurized water extinguisher exploded.

Cylinders must be hydrostatically tested at regular intervals. The frequency depends on the cylinder construction. Common cylinders requiring hydrostastic testing are stored pressure fire extinguishers. breathing air cylinders, cascade cylinders. oxygen cylinders, and fuel gas (acetylene) cylinders. Pressure vessels such as boilers, some hot water heaters, and some air tanks may require inspection and certification by a boiler inspector.

Cylinders in storage or use need to be secured from overturning. Use a chain, rope, heavy tape, etc.

PULLEYS

Pulleys must be guarded to prevent fingers and hands from becoming tangled in the belts. For examples of effective guarding, go to your local equipment retailer.

SLIDE POLES

If your station has slide poles, a guardrail system is needed for the center of the floor holes. Automatic floor covers to keep firefighters and objects from falling through the hole should be interlocked into the pole; when weight is placed on the pole or the pole is pulled down, the cover opens. The base of the pole should have a foam rubber impact attenuator to minimize shock to the body caused byrapid descent or poor positioning of the body on the pole. One person at a time: should use the pole. Train and evaluate new personnel on pole sliding as part of your fire station orientation.

KITCHENS

Range hoods and ducts should be protected by an approved automatic extinpushing system, typically using a dry or wet chemical tire extinguishing agent. 1’hese systems require semiannual inspections by an authorized contractor.

Post near the electrical panel a list that identifies circuits by function or area of coverage.Reflective tape reminds personnel to keep the area in front of the panel clear of storage.Proper safety measures you can employ in your fire station include a ground fault circuit interrupterwhich must be installed when renovating kitchen/bath areas and should be retrofitted in existing facilities in wet or damp areas; a station-built oxygen storage boxwhich is simple and effective; a ladder safety device for climbing the hose tower laddera cord with the proper strain relief

A dishwasher is an essential part of a fire station’s food-preparation area, to prevent the spread of communicable diseases from shared utensils.

WORK BENCH AND MAINTENANCE AREAS

The work bench area may contain a number of hazards. The most common is the bench grinder. It has an abrasive wheel that rotates at 3,(XX) to l.StX) rpms. A wheel speed of -4,SIX) rpms equates to approximately 107 miles per hour tin the rim of the wheel. Abrasive wheels can shatter easily from improper handling or falling off a bench. Prior to installing the wheel, conduct a ring test to determine the soundness of the wheel (see 29 CFR 1910).

The w heel speed must not beless than the maximum speed of the grinder. Alter reinstalling the side guard, prior to operation, adjust the tool rest to within ⅛ inch of the wheel. This will prevent objects from jamming in the wheel and causing it to shatter. Adjust the tongue guard, which is located at the top of the wheel and slows any particles and wheel chunks and directs them away from the head and face, to within ⅛ inch of the outer surface of the wheel.

Proper eye protection for grinding includes ANSI 287 1 approved safety glasses and a face shield. A face shield alone is not adequate eye protection for grinding.

Portable pow er tools that have a cord and plug require a periodic continuity test of the ground wire and pin. Double insulated tools are easier to maintain and provide increased electrical safety. Most portable pow er tools require safety glasses and goggles. For safe use. inspect and maintain power and nonpower tls regularly.

Flammable liquids used around the work bench include paints, varnishes.cleaning agents, and various types of fuels. A flammable liquid storage cabinet increases storage safety. Portable containers purchased for flammable liquids should be of the safety can-type with a spring-closing lid.

Prohibit smoking in work bench rooms.

Conduct battery charging in well-ventilated areas that have provisions for rapidly flushing the eyes.

Only trained and certified personnel^ should conduct cutting and welding with fuel gases. Develop a permit system for preauthorization.

HAZARD COMMUNICATION

If you are in an OSHA plan state, you may be required to comply with th*$ hazard communication standard. This involves training personnel, making a list of chemicals used in the station and on apparatus, labeling containers, maintaining a written program, labeling pipes, ant compiling material safety data sheets.

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