November/December 2007

Keeping It Safe

by Robert Tutterow

Apparatus Accessibility Is A Matter Of Safety

It’s hard to imagine a fire department delivering effective service when looking at yesteryear’s fire apparatus. Two firefighters could stand on either side of the apparatus and carry on a conversation while looking each other in the eye. A basketball star with good hang time could jump across one.

Today’s apparatus are larger than condominiums. A pole vaulter would have difficulty clearing one. If the trend continues, the next generation of firefighters may need to erect scaffolding around the apparatus to access equipment.

As fire departments develop apparatus specifications, cab and equipment accessibility should never be an afterthought.

One advantage of yesteryear’s apparatus was the ability to easily access equipment. Of course, they carried very little equipment. As we expand our toolbox to deliver an array of today’s services to our customers, it seems we can never get enough compartments on a single apparatus.

In addition to the efficiencies of easy accessibility, there are safety concerns. Fifteen years ago, my department was experiencing an average of one firefighter injury per week while working around or on apparatus.

In April 2003, my department had a line-of-duty death that was related to hose accessibility. The engineer/pump operator of the first due arriving engine at a two-alarm job injured his knee while helping to get hose from the rear of the apparatus.

What was originally thought to be a minor injury eventually required surgery. During the rehab from surgery, the engineer suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism that was directly related to the knee surgery.

And just this year on July 30, a volunteer firefighter in New York was fatally injured while working on top of a rescue rig when a firefighter drove it out of the station crushing him between a roof beam and the apparatus.

Making Climbing Safer

I mention these events to underscore the need to give this issue its rightful attention.

Fortunately, apparatus manufacturers and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) are refining the standard to make climbing on today’s apparatus a bit safer.

Currently, the maximum allowed height from the ground to the first step is 24 inches. The maximum allowed height for all other steps is 18 inches. All steps must have at least 35 square inches of surface area designed so that a 5-inch disk placed on the step does not overlap the edge of the step anywhere.

Additionally, there must be at least 8 inches of clearance between the leading edge of the step and any obstruction. All steps and standing surfaces and access ladder rungs must withstand a static load of 500 pounds without any deformation.

Slip Resistance

All steps and surfaces must be lighted, including the ground surface beneath the cab doors.

Slip resistance is a key design consideration for any step, standing surface and handrail. For years, the fire service accepted shiny aluminum diamond treadplate as standing and stepping surface. In some cases it was even specified for appearance purposes.

Finally, the NFPA set forth slip resistant requirements based on one of two American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) test methods. The pass/fail criteria were based on observing blindfolded firefighters actually stepping and walking on various surfaces used on fire apparatus.

Handrails are required at each cab entrance and at each position where climbing steps or access ladders are located. The rails must be slip resistant. Any veteran firefighter who has tried to hold on to a vertically mounted stainless steel handrail that was not slip resistant while wearing a wet glove knows the difficulty in maintaining a grip in that situation. In addition, handrails must have a diameter between 1 inch and 15/8 inches with a minimum clearance of at least 2 inches.

The arrangement of steps, access ladders, handrails and handholds on some apparatus is similar to the arrangement of climbing walls popular for outdoor mountain climbing enthusiasts.      

The NFPA technical committee for apparatus is looking very favorably at a proposal to improve access. The proposal states: “Handrails and hand holds shall be constructed so that three points of contact (two hands and one foot, or one hand and two feet) can be maintained at all times while ascending and descending.” The proposal appears to make a lot of common sense.

There are many things a fire department can do to improve cab, compartment and hose bed access beyond minimum NFPA requirements.

Entering and exiting cabs should be a priority as they are used most often. Particular attention should be given to cab exiting as firefighters typically exit while wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) including self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

Consider arrival at the “big one” during the middle of the night. The last things you want to worry about are steps and handrails that do not provide a natural and consistent means of egress or are not easily identifiable and are unevenly spaced.

The European apparatus community has started mounting handrails inside the cab and painting them yellow. Having climbed in and out of several European cabs, I think this makes a lot of sense.

Compartment access can be improved in several ways, too. Naturally, heavier objects should be stored in the lowest compartments. Roll-up doors minimize the footprint of the apparatus and allow for side access if the compartment is equipped with slide-and-tilt shelving.

Sliding vertical tool boards are an excellent way to mount hand tools (front and back) for easy access. Tote boxes are an efficient way to organize smaller items for specific tasks.

A study of walk-in closet organizers is helpful in compartment organization. If items must be stored above the reach of your shortest firefighter, then consider slide-out or flip-down standing surfaces along the bottom of the apparatus body.

Hose access can be improved by simply lowering hose beds and crosslays. If that is not practical for your application, then consider mounting pre-connected nozzles and the end of supply lines at tailboard level. It’s important to remember that all hose must be secured so that it cannot be accidentally deployed.

Extended front bumpers are an excellent access point for an attack line. A few manufacturers now offer hose beds with the ability to slide out or to lower so they can be re-packed from the ground. These are somewhat expensive options; however disabling injuries and fatalities are far more expensive.

If you must have top-side storage, popular on heavy rescues, then a deployable access ladder which provides a proper climbing angle is safer than a straight vertical ladder. The industry is making significant improvements in access ladders.

If you have a deck gun, give serious consideration to remote controls to eliminate the need to climb on the apparatus.

Space Efficiencies

Of course, hydraulic or electric tool racks for ground ladders, suction hose, drop tanks, and pike poles have been popular access methods for several years.

Apparatus and equipment makers have been working hard to develop designs and technologies to virtually eliminate the need to climb onto the body of apparatus – excluding aerials. Embracing and using these designs and technologies will not only provide incident scene efficiencies, but will help keep safe your department’s most valuable asset – the firefighter.

Editor’s Note: Robert Tutterow, who has 30 years in the fire service, is the Charlotte (N.C.) Fire Department health and safety officer. He is the chair of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Fire Department Apparatus Committee’s Safety Task Force Group and is on two other NFPA committees, the Structural and Proximity Firefighting Protective Ensemble Technical Committee and the Technical Correlating Committee for Fire and Emergency Services PPE.