Firefighting & Rescue Social / Professional Network
NFPA -- Friend or Foe to the Volunteer Fire Department
Do you feel the NFPA and the NFPA Standards, are a Friend or a Foe, to the Volunteer Fire Departments.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mick Mayers on -
Although I know what is about to occur (because we have had this conversation many times and in many threads, forums, and etc.), I'm still surprised that anyone would consider consensus standards, which they are openly invited to contribute to and to be part of the process, to be a "foe" to the volunteer fire service.
The part that won't surprise me, however, is that whenever this subject comes up, I hear the ol' "We don't like anyone telling us how we should do things" argument, to which I always return by saying, "If people did the right things to begin with, we wouldn't need standards."
So there's the first post to what I'm sure will be a lively conversation as to how standards are ruining the fire service.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on -
Definitely a friend. My thought is that some of the NFPA standards have evolved because of very unfortunate circumstances. Others are geared toward standardizing apparatus, protective gear, and other equipment. Everyone goes home.
NFPA also publishes the National Electrical Code - do you think that is a friend or foe of the building industry?
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Permalink Reply by roy yoder on -
its a foe and i am a electrician. just kidding it does take a lot to keep up with and the elec. get paid for the work they are not vol. now the NFPA is a standard but electric code is law that makes a big difference. if the chief is trying to meet and cannot because money or city hall he don't git throwed out.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Hayden on -
Friend, the are here to make things safer. They are kind of like OSHA to a company. Usually the only people who consider them a foe are the bosses.
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Permalink Reply by Steve on -
Ok, im sure I'll take some heat for this. I think the premise behind it is very good and needed. The problem i see is the people who sit on these boards all have money to gain from it. 75% of them are lawyers and or people making the equipment we buy. There for they have only money to gain by it becoming a standard. I think they also focus on so much small stuff that this miss the big issues. If i'm the maker of something that very few others make of course i want it to be mandatory. I believe a board like this should only consist of highly trained knowledgeable firefighter's, than i think you will see a lot more standards that make sense
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Permalink Reply by Flyinghi72 on -
Steve,
The committees that develop the NFPA standards are made up of many different types of people and are a balanced committe made up of 30 people who range from firefighters, fire chiefs, fire marshals, manufacturers, and many other different types of industries. Anyone can serve on these committees and they can only have 1/3 of any one of the nine interest catergories. and it is the public or the users of these documents that provide the changes...not a board or some other entity.
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Permalink Reply by Jenny Holderby on -
Read again who makes up the "boards" of NFPA. ANYONE can be a member and serve on a committee. They aren't "ONLY" the manufacturers and there are MANY highly trained knowledgable fire fighters on them such as Chief officers, Batalian Chief's, Safety Officers, Fire Inspectors, Fire Marshalls and others who have been in the business for many years. The STANDARDS are written to address firefighter health & safety, not particular products. Once the standards are approved THEN the manufacturers have to produce the equipment TO THAT STANDARD. Sure the mfgs of PPE made some money when the standard went from cotton duck and rubber to kevlar & nomex. NOT because THEY came up with a better idea to make money, but to help firefighters not get burned. The SCBA folks sold a lot of equipment when they decided that everybody had to wear SCBA in an IDLH atmosphere. Again, the standard wasn't set to make money for them, but to keep US from killing our selves breathing smoke. I don't think anyone sits around dreaming up ways to make money as much as to keep us healthier and safer in doing our jobs. There are reasons we don't ride tail boards and don't wear plastic helmets or rubber gloves and have equipment bolted down in the cab. There are reasons we carry PASS devices on our SCBA and have reflective material on our gear & apparatus. That reflective material doesn't help us put the fire out but it does a lot more than make the truck look pretty. There are reasons we practice Incident Command and accountability.
To answer the question, I don't believe NFPA or NIOSH or any other organization that sets standards even consider whether you are a Volunteer fire fighter or not. We are FIREFIGHTERS period. There is no distinction between career & volunteer. The dangers are the same for both. The fire doesn't know or care if you draw a paycheck or not.
Which BIG ISSUES do you consider have been missed? What doen't make sense?
I do however beleive that access to those standards should not be by subscription only.
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Permalink Reply by Lt. Caleb French on -
All valid and important points Jenny... as usual : ) And I agree with you... as usual : )
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Permalink Reply by The T MAN! on -
well put.
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Permalink Reply by Ashley Hampton on -
okay... i agree with Steve...its kind of like the people making the standards for school...they have no idea what goes on locally
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Permalink Reply by Capt.Alex Arnold on -
I would have to disagree Ashley. I am from a small "very small" department in NE Washington State. I have been a member of the NFPA for over 3 years now. I have had the opportunity to be on an advisory board. It is quite entailed and alot of good discussion takes place. They are continually trying their best to make a positive difference in this service. They especially try to take into consideration these smaller areas that are served by volunteer districts.
I am not sure what is posted here later in discussion but, we must remember that these are recommended standards. They are not "official" unless your agency has on paper stated they are going to FOLLOW NFPA STANDARDS. That is the simple way of stating it. You can google it see how many departments have "accepted" these standards and follow them 100%, not many if any. Now here in our department we use them in creating our SOPs and we defintily follow has many as we can ie 1400, live fire training.
Be safe and learn something new today.
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