Fire, land management and emergency workers can be exposed to a range of hazards and risks when completing work tasks. These may vary depending on the incident type, the urgency of response and environmental conditions.
Given the nature of emergency response work, it has been acknowledged that established safe work practices and risk management approaches that apply in non-emergency situations may not be appropriate to use while responding to an emergency. Additionally, the practice of prescribed burning gives rise to situations where it is impossible for workers to avoid some exposure to bushfire smoke. Agencies have an obligation to ensure that their responders are protected from hazards, as far as reasonably practicable, regardless of whether they are responding to an emergency or not.
Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council Limited
Click the image (above) to open the document in a pdf format
Selection of Appropriate Respiratory Protective Devices (RPD) During Bushfires
This guideline covers the types of RPD that may be used and worn by workers during bushfires or at controlled fires, e.g. a prescribed burn, or bushfire.
This guideline specifically excludes RPD used by workers at structure fires, vehicle fires, HAZMAT incidents and other like incidents.
Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council Limited
Click the image (above) to open the document in a pdf format
Bushfire smoke is dangerous. It’s full of tiny suspended fine particulate matter, measuring only 2.5 micrometres (written as PM2.5). To get an idea of how small that is, a micrometre is 1000 times smaller than a millimetre. Particles that size easily…
The respiratory protection options that are being provided to volunteer firefighters by the NSW Rural Fire Service are very limited and could impact upon firefighter health. The simple fact that firefighters are raising concerns on social media and other platforms…
If our volunteer firefighters are concerned about smoke exposure, we owe it to them to better understand the problem and provide some reasonably practicable solutions.
Most firefighters know and except that it is impossible to eliminate exposure to Carbon Monoxide unless you choose to self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). If comfort and reduction of irritation is the primary concern, there is a variety of disposable…
Rural Fire Service members have been warned about crowdfunding for protective masks “without the appropriate authority” amid growing concern about resourcing levels of the state’s firefighting volunteers.
Volunteer firefighters spending extended periods battling NSW bushfires say they are having to cough up significant sums of money for upgraded respirators, amid fears the disposable masks issued by the Rural Fire Service aren't providing enough protection for the severity…
