Public Hearing After Action Comments
Dave Denniston
As we conclude the informal hearing on the proposed 1910.156 standard, I wanted to recap what has stood out to me from all the comments.
- The proposal was drafted in a vacuum without equal representation of all of, or the majority of, emergency responders.
- Almost all expressed that the current standard was outdated and warranted changes.
- All agreed that responder safety was a major concern.
- Strong opposition was voiced as to the technical and economic feasibility of the proposal.
- There were mixed feelings as to if volunteers should be exempt or not.
- Despite claims that the proposal was flexible in nature, most felt it was too rigid and designed as a one size fits all solution and that it shouldn’t be
- Emergency services are delivered in a vastly different nature and organizations function at various levels across the country.
- That workplace response agencies and community response agencies are not the same.
- That the delivery of emergency services would be severely impacted by the proposal as written.
- Outside of the unions, consultants, and those that wanted to weaponize the standard to demand more money from municipalities, no one came forward to say the proposal as written was the best option available.
HERE ARE WHAT I SEE AS THE CHALLENGES MOVING AHEAD.
- OSHA has invested a lot of time and money into the process to date. They will be looking to save face and not blow this up.
- Changes to the existing standard are needed and warranted.
- Exempting volunteers entirely will be difficult at best because of combination departments, definitions of volunteers, different laws in different states, the reduction of volunteer numbers across the country.
- Only exempting volunteers will still have major financial impacts on our economy and municipalities that have any career staff.
- The appointment for Secretary of Labor is known to be pro-labor and unions.
- Even if we get a political “stay” on this for now, when the political landscape changes back in 2 to 4 years, we will be fitting this battle all over again.
- OSHA has now repeatedly asked for data and input to ideas of what would work and be acceptable.
- Any solution will have pain for some and there is no way to keep everyone completely happy here.
- This is not just going to go away.
So please hear me out. In an effort to come up with a workable solution, I have taken the proposal rule and made some substantial edits. I am proposing a standalone standard that only applies to first response agencies (fire departments and ambulances). I have removed the incorporated NFPA standards and made them as reference material. I have adjusted the wording to put more power back in the hands of the AHJ. I have made it much cleaner and easier to read and understand. While there will still be some lift for local organizations and some pain points, I truly believe these edits would make it workable for the majority of organizations across our diverse country. I believe if we are not willing to be part of the solution, we are in fact part of the problem.
Please read my attached draft version and see if you think this is something we can live with. If it is (with any suggested edits) I would like to do a mass distribution of this and see if we can get enough support for it to give OSHA a way out and help improve the safety of our responders at the same time. I ask you to view this with an open mind and only object to portions that you feel would cause major disruption to your organization.
Folks, we asked OSHA to listen, and they are listening. Our elected officials repeatedly said we needed to work with OSHA to find a solution. This is a solution. While the courts may provide us with some relief, that will be a lengthy and time-consuming process with no guarantee for success. I have read this draft for the 4th time and do not see anything here now that I could not live with as a compromise.
https://cafda.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/OSHA-1910.156-Denniston-Edits-Clean-Version.docx
I look forward to your feedback. Time is of the essence here as the deadline for post hearing comments will come soon.
Dave Denniston