(1) It
must be the responsibility of management to establish, supervise, maintain, and
enforce, in a manner which is effective in practice:
(a) A safe and healthful working environment,
as it applies to both nonemergency and emergency conditions.
(b) An accident prevention program as
required by this chapter.
(c)
Programs for training employees in the fundamentals of accident
prevention.
(d) Procedures to be
used by the fire department health and safety officer and incident commander to
ensure that emergency medical care is provided for members on duty.
(e) An accident investigation program as
required by this chapter.
(f)
Policies that clarify "rules of engagement" or parameters when personnel should
commit to work activities within a hot zone.
(g) Policies that clarify the right of every
employee to notify the employer of potential life-threatening situations during
emergency operations and processes that clarify how this notification is to
occur.
(2) The fire
department must be responsible for providing suitable expertise to comply with
all testing requirements in this chapter. Such expertise may be secured from
within the fire department, from equipment and apparatus manufacturers, or
other suitable sources.
(3) Members
who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs must not participate in any
fire department operations or other functions. This rule does not apply to
persons taking prescription drugs as directed by a physician or dentist
providing such use does not endanger the worker or others.
(4) Alcoholic beverages must not be allowed
in station houses, except at those times when station houses are used as
community centers, with the approval of management.
(5) A bulletin board or posting area
exclusively for safety and health and large enough to display the required
safety and health posters. The WISHA poster (WISHA form F416-081-909) and other
safety education material must be provided. A bulletin board of "white
background" and "green trim" is recommended.
(6) The fire department must develop and
maintain a hazard communication program as required by WAC
296-901-14010,
which will provide information to all employees relative to hazardous chemicals
or substances to which they are exposed, or may routinely be exposed to, in the
course of their employment.
(7)
Personnel.
(a) The employer must ensure that
employees are physically capable of performing duties that may be assigned to
them.
(b) The employer must not
permit employees with known physical limitations reasonably identifiable to the
employer, for example, heart disease or seizure disorder, to participate in
physically demanding activities unless the employee has been released to
participate in such activities by a physician or other licensed health care
professional (LHCP) who is qualified by training or experience as determined by
the fire department to evaluate firefighters.
