BILL REQ. #:  H-1033.1 

Read first time 01/29/2003.   Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

     AN ACT Relating to the occupational safety and health of fire department employees; amending RCW 49.17.020; and adding new sections to chapter 49.17 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     The legislature intends to specify the minimum criteria for addressing the occupational safety and health of fire department employees, and to establish response time objectives for certain major services. The legislature acknowledges the efforts of the national fire protection association to develop standard 1710 for the organization and deployment of substantially career fire departments, and standard 1720 as the standard for substantially volunteer fire departments. For these reasons, this act contains minimum requirements, comparable to those standards, relating to the organization and deployment of fire suppression operations, emergency medical operations, and special operations to the public.

Sec. 2   RCW 49.17.020 and 1997 c 362 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((For the purposes of)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter((:)) unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) ((The term)) "Advanced life support" means functional provision of advanced airway management, including intubation, advanced cardiac monitoring, manual defibrillation, establishment and maintenance of intravenous access, and drug therapy.
     (2) "Agriculture" means farming and includes, but is not limited to:
     (a) The cultivation and tillage of the soil;
     (b) Dairying;
     (c) The production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodity;
     (d) The raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry; and
     (e) Any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm, incident to or in connection with such farming operations, including but not limited to preparation for market and delivery to:
     (i) Storage;
     (ii) Market; or
     (iii) Carriers for transportation to market.
     The term "agriculture" does not mean a farmer's processing for sale or handling for sale a commodity or product grown or produced by a person other than the farmer or the farmer's employees.
     (((2) The term)) (3) "Aircraft rescue and fire fighting" means the fire fighting actions taken to rescue persons and to control or extinguish fire involving or adjacent to aircraft on the ground.
     (4) "Authority having jurisdiction" means the fire protection district, or the county, city, or other municipal fire department responsible for fire fighting actions, emergency medical services, and other special operations in a specified geographic area.
     (5) "Director" means the director of the department of labor and industries, or ((his)) the director's designated representative.
     (((3) The term)) (6) "Department" means the department of labor and industries.
     (((4) The term)) (7) "Employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, business trust, legal representative, or other business entity which engages in any business, industry, profession, or activity in this state and employs one or more employees or who contracts with one or more persons, the essence of which is the personal labor of such person or persons and includes the state, counties, cities, and all municipal corporations, public corporations, political subdivisions of the state, and charitable organizations: PROVIDED, That any person, partnership, or business entity not having employees, and who is covered by the industrial insurance act shall be considered both an employer and an employee.
     (((5) The term)) (8) "Employee" means an employee of an employer who is employed in the business of his or her employer whether by way of manual labor or otherwise and every person in this state who is engaged in the employment of or who is working under an independent contract the essence of which is his or her personal labor for an employer under this chapter whether by way of manual labor or otherwise.
     (((6) The term)) (9) "Fire department" means a fire protection district, or a county, city, or other municipal fire department.
     (10) "Fire suppression" means the activities involved in controlling and extinguishing fires.
     (11) "First responder" means provision of initial assessment and basic first-aid intervention, including cardiac pulmonary resuscitation and automatic external defibrillator capability.
     (12) "Marine rescue and fire fighting" means the fire fighting actions taken to prevent, control, or extinguish fire involved in or adjacent to a marine vessel and the rescue actions for occupants using normal and emergency routes for egress.
     (13) "Person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, business trusts, legal representatives, or any organized group of persons.
     (((7) The term)) (14) "Response time" means the time beginning when units are en route to the emergency incident and ending when units arrive at the scene.
     (15) "Safety and health standard" means a standard which requires the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe or healthful employment and places of employment.
     (((8) The term)) (16) "Special operations" means those emergency incidents to which the fire department responds that require specific and advanced training and specialized tools and equipment.
     (17) "Turnout time" means the time beginning when units acknowledge notification of the emergency to the beginning point of response time.
     (18) "Work place" means any plant, yard, premises, room, or other place where an employee or employees are employed for the performance of labor or service over which the employer has the right of access or control, and includes, but is not limited to, all work places covered by industrial insurance under Title 51 RCW, as now or hereafter amended.
     (((9) The term)) (19) "Working day" means a calendar day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and all legal holidays as set forth in RCW 1.16.050, as now or hereafter amended, and for the purposes of the computation of time within which an act is to be done under the provisions of this chapter, shall be computed by excluding the first working day and including the last working day.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Every authority having jurisdiction shall maintain a written statement or policy that establishes the following:
     (a) The existence of a fire department;
     (b) Services that the fire department is required to provide;
     (c) The basic organizational structure of the fire department;
     (d) The expected number of fire department employees; and
     (e) Functions that fire department employees are expected to perform.
     (2) Every authority having jurisdiction shall include service delivery objectives in the written statement or policy required under subsection (1) of this section. These objectives shall include specific response time objectives for the following major service components, if appropriate:
     (a) Fire suppression;
     (b) Emergency management services;
     (c) Special operations;
     (d) Aircraft rescue and fire fighting;
     (e) Marine rescue and fire fighting; and
     (f) Wild land fire fighting.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Every fire department shall establish the following time objectives:
     (a) One minute for turnout time;
     (b) Four minutes or less for the arrival of the first arriving engine company at a fire suppression incident, or eight minutes or less for the deployment of a full first alarm assignment at a fire suppression incident;
     (c) Four minutes or less for the arrival of a unit with first responder or higher level capability at an emergency medical incident; and
     (d) Eight minutes or less for the arrival of an advanced life support unit at an emergency medical incident, where this service is provided by the fire department.
     (2) Every fire department shall also establish a performance objective of not less than ninety percent for the achievement of each response time objective specified in subsection (1) of this section.
     (3) Every fire department shall evaluate its level of service and deployment delivery and response time objectives on an annual basis. The evaluations shall be based on data relating to level of service, deployment, and the achievement of each response time objective in each geographic area within the jurisdiction of the fire department.
     (4) Beginning in 2005, every fire department shall issue an annual written report which shall be based on the annual evaluations required by subsection (3) of this section.
     (a) The annual report shall define the geographic areas and circumstances in which the requirements of this standard are not being met.
     (b) The annual report shall explain the predictable consequences of these deficiencies and address the steps that are necessary to achieve compliance.