Overview:
A long list of unwritten safety rules for emergency responders around the state could be codified under a bill that was voted through the public safety committee Tuesday.
A long list of unwritten safety rules for emergency responders around the state could be codified under a bill that was voted through the public safety committee Tuesday.
However, some on the committee expressed concerns with some of the provisions of the legislation.
The bill, House Bill 5264, would require volunteer fire departments and volunteer ambulance services to comply with Connecticut’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, unless otherwise regulated by federal OSHA.
There is a long list of requirements that would be codified under the bill, but committee chair Rep. Patrick Boyd said that it’s nothing that many departments aren’t already doing. A volunteer firefighter for 16 years, Boyd said the safety standards included in the bill are just that: standard.
“This is just basic, minimum stuff,” Boyd said. “This is all stuff that I always took as being the minimum.”
There is currently no statutory minimum standard for safety practices in the state, and Connecticut is not a state that is included in the National Fire Protection Association. The bill would give the Department of Labor more solid ground to deal strongly with complaints that arise regarding safety for volunteer responders, and would bring those volunteers and their departments under the jurisdiction of CONN-OSHA.
Dante Bartolomeo, commissioner of the Department of Labor, had testified in February in favor of the bill, saying that it would amend the definition of the word “employer” in OSHA so that it would extend to volunteer fire departments in the state.
According to Bartolomeo’s written testimony, 37 complaints were made to CONN-OSHA in the past eight years pertaining to volunteer fire departments. 29 of those were investigated, while OSHA’s authority was questioned regarding the remaining eight.
Some Republicans on the committee said they have concerns about “overregulating” volunteer departments, and that it could have a negative effect on recruitment and retainment.
Rep. Greg Howard, R- Stonington, said that he doesn’t think the state should be regulating the safety practices of these departments, and that it could negatively impact the ability of these departments to retain their volunteers.
“We in this committee, for two years, have talked about recruitment and retention in the firefighter industry,” Howard said. “I have to tell you, in the 29 years I’ve been involved in public safety and public service, I find fire chiefs and fire departments to be some of the most safety conscious beings that I’ve ever met in my life.”
Howard said that sometimes disgruntled or upset volunteers will make OSHA complaints that are ill-founded.
“Opening the door to overburden these fire departments who I believe, statewide, are very safety conscious for their members; for their scenes; for their equipment, could be a detriment,” he said.
Boyd said the issue is that there is a lack of understanding regarding exactly what the bill would do. After a two-hour call with officials from the Department of Labor, Boyd said he is confident in what the bill would require of volunteer departments.
“I think that most people don’t understand this bill. It comes across as ‘big government’ telling people how to do things,” he said. “All it’s doing is codifying a minimum safety standard.”
The requirements that would be codified under the bill include requiring turnout (safety) equipment to be replaced every 10 years, inspection of all equipment, training for firefighters and officers – who are often elected – and procedural standards such as the “two in, two out” system. Those receiving training, Boyd said, would not have to go outside of their own departments to receive it.
The bill was referred to the Public Safety and Security Committee by the Labor and Public Employees Committee. There is no fiscal note on the bill.
