§ 3401. Application.

(a) These Orders establish minimum requirements for personal protective clothing and equipment for fire fighters when exposed to the hazards of fire fighting activity, and take precedence over any other Safety Order with which they are inconsistent.

Sections 3403 through 3409, inclusive, apply to structural fire fighting as defined in Section 3402.

(b) General Requirements.

(1) Personal protective clothing and equipment specified in these Orders shall be provided and used whenever such employees are required to work in a hazardous environment that may be encountered during fire fighting activities or under similar conditions during training activities.

(2) The employer shall ensure the availability, maintenance, and use of all protective clothing and equipment in accordance with these Orders.

(3) Employees shall be instructed to wear or utilize appropriate personal protective clothing and equipment when directed to work in a hazardous environment until such time as the officer in charge determines that such protection is no longer required.

(4) Personal protective clothing and equipment that has become damaged or otherwise defective to the point of voiding its intended protection shall be removed from service.

(5) Fire fighters and other employees engaged in emergency activities requiring special protective techniques and equipment shall be trained in the appropriate techniques and provided with the necessary protective equipment.

(6) Employers shall develop and require use of a written plan covering the safe use, maintenance, utilization and replacement of the equipment required in these Orders, and all affected employees shall be trained in accordance with such plan.

(7) Employers shall ensure that new protective clothing and equipment provided be furnished with a statement of performance declaring that the product has been tested and meets the requirements of these Orders.

(c) Personal Alarms.

(1) Every fire fighter engaged in interior structural fire fighting activities requiring the use of self-contained breathing apparatus shall be provided with a personal alarm device. Alarm devices ordered or purchased after January 1, 1986, shall meet the requirements of Section 3401(c)(3)(B) and NFPA 1982 (1983). Each alarm device ordered or purchased prior to January 1, 1986 shall meet the following minimum requirements:

(2) Operation.

(A) Controls shall be incorporated in alarm devices for manual activation and reset, and shall be protected against accidental deactivation. Such controls shall be designed to be operated by a gloved hand.

(B) Alarm devices shall contain a motion detector which will activate the alarm if the fire fighter is motionless for not less than twenty (20) seconds nor more than forty (40) seconds. The alarm shall also include a pre-warning device to signal the fire fighter that the alarm is approaching the point of activation.

(3) Performance.

(A) Alarm devices shall emit a signal with a sound pressure level of not less than 85 dba measured at a distance of three (3) meters for not less than one (1) hour using an eighty percent (80%) charged battery. Signal frequency used shall not be less than 2000 H subz nor more than 4000 H subz.

(B) The alarm shall operate in a temperature range of -10 degrees C to 80 degrees C and for a period of two minutes at 140 degrees C.

(C) Alarm devices shall be designed to withstand damage created by deterioration of the type of battery recommended by the manufacturer for use in such devices.

(D) Alarm devices shall remain operable after being submerged in sea water for at least one hour at a depth of two meters.

(E) Alarm devices shall be impact and shock resistant, and shall be designed to remain operable after being dropped six (6) successive times from random positions onto a concrete floor from a height of not less than two meters.

(F) Alarm devices shall not weigh more than 350 grams, including batteries.

(4) Safety.

(A) Alarm devices shall be equipped with a visual or audible device to indicate when the battery has been discharged to not less than 80 percent of its rated capacity.

(B) Alarm devices shall be equipped with an audible means to warn of the malfunction of the motion sensing circuitry.

(C) Alarm devices shall be intrinsically safe for use in a flammable or explosive atmosphere.

(5) Certification.

Alarm devices shall be labeled or otherwise certified to indicate compliance with this section.

HISTORY

1. New Article 10.1 (Sections 3401-3409) filed 5-3-78; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 78, No. 18).

2. Amendment of subsection (a) filed 9-11-80; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 80, No. 37).

3. New subsection (c) filed 1-27-82; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 82, No. 5).

4. Editorial correction of subsection (c)(3)(A) (Register 82, No. 50).

5. Amendment of subsection (c)(1) filed 2-9-83 as an emergency; effective upon filing (Register 83, No. 8). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 6-9-83.

6. Amendment of subsection (c)(3)(D) filed 4-12-83; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 83, No. 16).

7. Certificate of Compliance transmitted to OAL 5-13-83 and filed 6-13-83 (Register 83, No. 25).

8. Amendment filed 4-29-85; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 85, No. 18).

Note

Note: Authority cited: Section 142.3, Labor Code. Reference: Section 142.3, Labor Code.