1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

As a volunteer firefighter, I would like to re-affirm my strong concerns with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed Emergency Response Standard. The most recent public comment period on the proposed Emergency Response Standard ended on January 17 and OSHA is now evaluating the input they received. If adopted as written, the proposed standard would compromise the emergency response capabilities of volunteer fire departments. While I agree with OSHA on the need for additional firefighter safety. The proposed standard, as written, is economically infeasible, contains arbitrary administrative burdens and would incorporate by reference language that is not readily available to the public. A safety standard that is impossible to implement, like this one, would not support firefighter safety. Any final Emergency Response standard must take into consideration the concerns of the nation’s volunteer fire service. Please send a letter to OSHA urging them not to adopt the proposed Emergency Response Standard as written.