BETHEL — A proposed rule set forth by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), directed at firefighters as a new “Emergency Response Standard”, was received recently by local volunteer firefighters. It spurred their representatives on the Board of Fire Commissioners to ask for a letter to be written by Bethel Town Supervisor Dan Sturm in response. 

Addressed to Honorable Douglas L. Parker, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health at the U.S. Dept. of Labor in Washington, D.C., the letter was presented at the Bethel Town Board meeting Wednesday, July 10.

In OSHA’s efforts to improve safety, the new mandates would impose a financial and manpower burden on local firefighting squads, potentially increasing budgets by 40 percent, and could reduce the number of people willing to volunteer.

The Board of Fire Commissioners drew up a series of questions to address in an effort to review the document within the OSHA-stipulated timeframe of 165 days. It asks if this is “adequate [time] to review a document that took them years to write”, in order to determine the effects it would have.

The two pages of questions ask for feedback on the details of the rule, which include stipulations that captains, lieutenants, and assistant chiefs receive specified additional training; an assumption that fire departments have an average budget of $1.7 million; a belief that the financial impact of the measures would be “less than 1 percent”; a requirement of weekly vehicle inspections and “within 24 hours of each run”; a requirement to mark  control zones to indicate levels of danger, as “cold”, “warm”, “hot” or “no entry”; annual physical exams which include behavioral health exams, skin cancer screenings, bi-annual mammograms for those over forty; and annual weighing of trucks. 

An understanding of “over 1500 shalls and musts” in the NFPA standards with a response if it is overwhelming, as well as an estimation of 173 extra hours of work are needed to comply. There are 21 standards which are not labeled as “free to comment on”.

Since the six Bethel Fire Depts. are voluntary, the increase of hours and additional costs to implement the new rule would place a significant strain on local budgets, in consideration of the 2 percent tax cap. 

Sturm states in his letter that he wants “clear communication on further in-person and written comment periods”. 

He continues with, “This document is neither technically nor economically feasible.” 

According to the Supervisor, it “is arbitrary and capricious in that it fails to prove that [it would] reduce responder injuries and deaths.” 

“OSHA did not use the full negotiated rule making process in developing the proposed standards and we would like the opportunity to participate in the process moving forward,” Sturm said.

The Supervisor asked each Board member to write a letter and plans to make a similar request of the other Town Supervisors in Sullivan County at their next meeting the first week in August.