Alarm Bells: Local first responders concerned over new proposed OSHA rules
By Joe Hathaway on Wednesday, April 17th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
NORTHEAST OREGON — Local rural volunteer fire departments and search and rescue (SAR) teams say they are facing potentially crippling challenges under proposed federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.
The regulations mandate updates in personal protective equipment (PPE) and operational apparatus, which could impose untenable costs on already financially strained rural districts.
Nick Vora, Emergency Manager of Union County, says the potential impact on volunteer-based organizations could be catastrophic, especially in states like Oregon where volunteers are considered employees due to workers’ compensation requirements.
“The implementation of this proposed rule federally (and when adopted by states with state OSHA plans such as Oregon as required) would likely result in many of our small emergency response agencies ceasing to operate,” wrote Vora in an email.
Other first responders in Northeast Oregon agree.
“If these new OSHA rules are implemented as written, it’s going to have devastating financial repercussions, not just here in Baker County but nationwide,” said Sean Lee, Chief of the Baker Rural Fire District. “It could potentially wipe out many of the smaller districts.”
Under the proposed standards, fire departments would need to replace firefighting gear every 10 years and vehicles every 25 years. The proposals will also require that emergency response vehicles be no more than 20 years old and have tires that are less than 7 years old. Since many rural agencies operate with equipment that often exceeds these age limits due to budget constraints, the new rules could lead to significant financial hardships.
“These requirements could force many volunteer organizations to either incur significant debt to meet the standards or shut down to avoid non-compliance,” wrote Vora.
“This will significantly increase our costs, as equipment life is ticking away, even if it just sits on the shelf,” said Chief Lee. “”The financial burden these new mandates introduce is unsustainable. Many local fire districts are already stretched thin, starving for volunteers and funding. This could drive our ISO ratings up, which would spike the fire insurance costs for our community.”
An ISO rating is a measure used by the Insurance Services Office to assess the fire protection capability of local fire departments, which directly influences homeowners’ insurance rates in the area.
The financial burden extends beyond equipment. The proposed OSHA rule also mandates annual health screenings and rigorous training and certification processes.
Lee says the plan will make it harder to recruit new volunteers because of new requirements and barriers to entry.
“Volunteers, with them having to work two, three jobs, all the child care stuff, the events families do and children do…many fire districts been seeing a decline for years and it’s just going to get worse,” said Lee.
Vora warned that the cost for National Fire Protection Association(NFPA)-compliant PPE alone, which can cost several thousand dollars per set, could be an issue for many agencies that currently rely on older or second-hand equipment.
He also said under the new regulations, law enforcement and volunteer search and rescue agencies would have to now be NFPA compliant.
“That potentially means many/most of our SAR tech rescue teams would need to have NFPA certified instructors and re-do their certifications,” wrote Vora. “It would also adopt NFPA training standards, which would require us to use only certified people to perform certain tasks, vs being able to internally train and use people to the extent of their skills and abilities. Re-training and certification through “NFPA” instructors would be a huge cost to some agencies that currently train and certify internally.”
Both Lee and Vora say they’re actively engaging with state officials to advocate for regulatory adjustments that consider the challenges faced by rural emergency services.
Elkhorn Media Group has reached out to OSHA for comment.
OSHA is accepting public comments on the proposal until June 21, 2024.
You may submit comments and attachments, identified by Docket No. OSHA-2007-0073, electronically at
http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
