Subchapter 7. General Industry Safety Orders
Group 2. Safe Practices and Personal Protection
Article 10.1. Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment for Fire Fighters

§3411. Private Fire Brigades.

(a) Scope and Application.

(1) Scope. This section contains requirements for the organization, training, and personal protective equipment of fire brigades whenever they are established by an employer.

(2) Application. The requirements of this section apply to private fire brigades, such as industrial fire departments and private or contractual type fire departments. Personal protective equipment requirements apply only to members of fire brigades performing interior structural fire fighting activities. The requirements of this section do not apply to airport crash rescue or forest fire fighting operations.

(b) Organization.

(1) Organizational Statement. The employer shall prepare and maintain a statement or written policy which establishes the existence of a fire brigade; the basic organizational structure; the type, amount, and frequency of training to be provided to fire brigade members; the expected number of members in the fire brigade; and the functions that the fire brigade is to perform at the workplace. The organizational statement shall be available for inspection by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and by employees or their designated representatives.

(2) Personnel. The employer shall ensure that employees who are expected to do interior structural fire fighting are physically capable of performing duties which may be assigned to them during emergencies. The employer shall not permit employees with known heart disease, epilepsy, or emphysema, to participate in fire brigade emergency activities unless a physician's certificate of the employees' fitness to participate in such activities is provided. This subsection shall become effective 60 days after the effective date of this Article.

(c) Training and Education.

(1) The employer shall provide training and education for all fire brigade members commensurate with those duties and functions that fire brigade members are expected to perform. Such training and education shall be provided to fire brigade members before they perform fire brigade emergency activities. Fire brigade leaders and training instructors shall be provided with training and education which is more comprehensive than that provided to the general membership of the fire brigade.

(2) The employer shall ensure that training and education is conducted frequently enough to assure that each member of the fire brigade is able to perform the member's assigned duties and functions satisfactorily and in a safe manner so as not to endanger fire brigade members or other employees. All fire brigade members shall be provided with training at least annually. In addition, fire brigade members who are expected to perform interior structural fire fighting activity shall be provided with an education session or training at least quarterly.

(3) The quality of the training and education program for fire brigade members shall be similar to those conducted by such fire training schools as the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute; Iowa Fire Service Extension; West Virginia Fire Service Extension; Georgia Fire Academy; New York State Department, Fire Prevention and Control; Louisiana State University Firemen Training Program, or Washington State's Fire Service Training Commission for Vocational Education. (For example, for the oil refinery industry, with its unique hazards, the training and education program for those fire brigade members shall be similar to those conducted by Texas A & M University, Lamar University, University of Nevada-Reno Fire Academy, or the Delaware State Fire School.)

(4) The employer shall inform fire brigade members about special hazards such as storage and use of flammable liquids and gases, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources, and water reactive substances, to which they may be exposed during fire and other emergencies. The fire brigade members shall also be advised of any changes that occur in relation to the special hazards. The employer shall develop and make available for inspection by fire brigade members, written procedures that describe the actions to be taken in situations involving the special hazards and shall include these in the training and education program.

(d) Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment shall be provided by the employer at no cost to the employee in accordance with this article commensurate with the fire fighting activity involved. With respect to structural fire fighting by private fire brigades, those personal protective clothing and equipment requirements shall be in accordance with Sections 3402.1, 3402.3, 3403, 3404, 3405, 3406, 3407, 3408, and 3409.

Credits

Note: Authority cited: Section 142.3, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 142.3 and 147.4, Labor Code.

History

1. New section filed 9-8-81; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 81, No. 37).

2. Amendment filed 4-29-85; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 85, No. 18).

3. Amendment of subsection (e) filed 8-25-98; operative 11-23-98 (Register 98, No. 35).

4. Amendment of subsection (d) and new subsections (d)(1)-(6) filed 8-28-2015; operative 10-1-2015 (Register 2015, No. 35).

5. Amendment of section and Note filed 11-7-2022; operative 1-1-2023 (Register 2022, No. 45). Transmission deadline specified in Government Code section 11349.3(b) extended 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-71-20. Filing deadline specified in Government Code section 11349.3(a) extended 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-71-20.