Volunteers may be excluded from OSHA’s proposed emergency response standard

OSHA indicated in a recent statement that it may exclude volunteer emergency response organizations from its proposed emergency response rule due to economic feasibility concerns raised during the public comment period.

Although OSHA doesn’t directly cover volunteer emergency responders, some OSHA State Plans treat volunteers as employees under state law, which is how a federal proposed standard could affect volunteer responders in State Plan states. OSHA preliminarily determined that its proposed rule would be economically feasible for volunteer organizations. Comments received during the comment period, however, raised serious concerns about the rule’s economic feasibility.

The proposed rule would replace OSHA’s Fire Brigades Standard (1910.156) and expand protections for emergency responders who provide services other than firefighting, such as medical services and technical search and rescue services.

A public rulemaking hearing will be held November 12. OSHA encourages stakeholders to continue to provide information and relevant data.