Volunteer Fire Departments

Code 3 Safety & Training is an excellent choice for training volunteer departments across the Northwest. Firefighters require a whole host of competent training to comply with state and federal regulations, such as Federal OSHA, NFPA, Oregon OSHA and Washington L & I to maintain on-scene safety in firefighting and EMS runs, support employee health and safety needs, and lower jurisdictional insurance costs by decreasing workers compensation claims. This industry is inherently dangerous and requires supervisory and line personnel to be proactive and safety-minded in their everyday work.

Your team’s “K-S-A” competency and well-functioning equipment is vital to increase the margin of safety in response to fires, medical emergencies and hazardous materials spills and incidents. You are the first line of defense in your community to all-hazards events. Your department should be trained and equipped to respond in the best manner staffing will allow. Our team is comprised of career, well-trained, and experienced firefighters, lieutenants, and chiefs that lend credibility to your internal training model. Our staff has experience in managing department logistics, implementing SOGs’, conducting pre-fire planning and business fire inspections, consistent with NFPA and the International Fire Code.

We will partner with your department using the career experience of three line-firefighters and paramedics, a fire lieutenant and an assistant fire chief. All have unique skill sets and experience to assist your department with training, logistics and program management.

Please contact us to schedule a complimentary on-site consultation.

Please select from one of the two options below and reserve your next OSHA safety consulting or training certification with Code 3 Safety & Training!

Federal and State Regulatory information:

Note: Washington and Oregon each have a state OSHA program, which is required to conform to federal OSHA rules. Both states have the option to enact stricter regulatory requirements.

1. Workplace Hazardous materials requirements at the federal level:

Under the OSHA law, each employer is responsible for the safety and health of its workers and for providing a safe and healthful workplace. Employers must protect workers from anticipated hazards associated with participation in response and recovery operations for hazardous substances. For additional information on workers’ rights, employer responsibilities, and other services OSHA offers, visit OSHA’s employers page, workers page and publications list.

1910.120(b) – Safety and health program: Develop and implement a written safety and health program that describes the work policies, practices, and procedures for workers who conduct hazardous waste operations/cleanup work. The program must identify, evaluate, and control safety and health hazards, and provide emergency response procedures for hazardous waste operations.

1910.120(c) – Site characterization and analysis: Before workers enter a new site, perform a preliminary evaluation to identify hazards to which workers may be exposed and determine how to protect them with engineering controls, work practices, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

1910.120(e) – Training: Prior to engaging in hazardous waste operations, train workers, including employees, supervisors, and site managers. See standard for training requirements depending on each individual’s job function on the site.

1910.120(l) – Emergency response by employees at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites: Develop, implement, and make available to OSHA, employees, and their representatives a written response plan that describes what workers must do in an emergency.

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/emergencypreparedness/hazwoper/

The Superfund Amendments Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 required OSHA to issue regulations protecting workers engaged in hazardous waste operations. OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standards (in general industry, 29 CFR 1910.120; and construction 29 CFR 1926.65) established health and safety requirements for employers engaged in these operations, as well as responses to emergencies involving releases of hazardous substances. HAZWOPER requires that employers follow specific work policies, practices, and procedures to protect their workers potentially exposed to hazardous substances. The standards provide employers with the information and training criteria necessary to ensure workplace health and safety during hazardous waste, emergency response, and cleanup operations involving hazardous substances. HAZWOPER aims to prevent and minimize the possibility of worker injury and illness resulting from potential exposures to hazardous substances.

Exposures to hazardous substances pose a wide range of acute (i.e., immediate) and chronic (i.e., long-term) health effects. These may include chemical burns, sensitization, irritation, and other toxic effects that may lead to death. Hazardous substance releases can also result in fires, explosions, high-energy events, and/or toxic atmospheres depending on the physical properties and health hazards of the released substance(s). OSHA’s Chemical Hazards and Toxic Substances Safety and Health Topic page provides more information on safety and health hazards from exposure to hazardous substances.

2. Workplace Fire Extinguisher Training requirements at the federal level:

1910.157(g)

Training and education.

1910.157(g)(1)

Where the employer has provided portable fire extinguishers for employee use in the workplace, the employer shall also provide an educational program to familiarize employees with the general principles of fire extinguisher use and the hazards involved with incipient stage firefighting.

1910.157(g)(2)

The employer shall provide the education required in paragraph (g)(1) of this section upon initial employment and at least annually thereafter.

1910.157(g)(3)

The employer shall provide employees who have been designated to use firefighting equipment as part of an emergency action plan with training in the use of the appropriate equipment.

1910.157(g)(4)

The employer shall provide the training required in paragraph (g)(3) of this section upon initial assignment to the designated group of employees and at least annually thereafter.

3. Workplace First Aid and Bloodborne Pathogens requirements at the federal level:

Legal requirements vary throughout the country, and across various industries.

“In the absence of an infirmary, clinic, or hospital in near proximity to the workplace which is used for the treatment of all injured employees, a person or persons shall be adequately trained to render first aid. Adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available.”

Bloodborne Pathogens Standard
(29 CFR 1910.1030)

This is the most frequently requested and referenced OSHA standard affecting medical and dental offices. Some basic requirements of the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens standard include:

• A written exposure control plan, to be updated annually
• Use of universal precautions
• Consideration, implementation, and use of safer, engineered needles and sharps
• Use of engineering and work practice controls and appropriate personal protective equipment (gloves, face and eye protection, gowns)
• Hepatitis B vaccine provided to exposed employees at no cost
• Medical follow-up in the event of an “exposure incident”
• Use of labels or color-coding for items such as sharps disposal boxes and containers for regulated waste, contaminated laundry, and certain specimens.
• Employee training.
• Proper containment of all regulated waste

4. Workplace Emergency Action Plan requirements at the federal level:

Putting together a comprehensive emergency action plan that deals with those issues specific to your worksite is not difficult. It involves taking what was learned from your workplace evaluation and describing how employees will respond to different types of emergencies, taking into account your specific worksite layout, structural features, and emergency systems. Most organizations find it beneficial to include a diverse group of representatives (management and employees) in this planning process and to meet frequently to review progress and allocate development tasks. The commitment and support of all employees is critical to the plan’s success in the event of an emergency; ask for their help in establishing and implementing your emergency action plan. For smaller organizations, the plan does not need to be written and may be communicated orally if there are 10 or fewer employees. [29 CFR 1910.38(b)]

At a minimum, the plan must include but is not limited to the following elements [29 CFR 1910.38(c)]:

• Means of reporting fires and other emergencies
• Evacuation procedures and emergency escape route assignments
• Procedures for employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate
• Accounting for all employees after an emergency evacuation has been completed
• Rescue and Medical Duties for Employees Performing Them (CPR and First Aid training)
• Names or job titles of persons who can be contacted