NFPA Asks: How Do You Care For Your PPE?
October 7, 2013
Dirty, contaminated gear is a serious health hazard to the fire service. Improperly cleaned gear is thought to be a factor in cancer rates among firefighters, as the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and the Fire Smoke Coalition are showing. Off-gassing and toxins from improperly cleaned personal protective equipment (PPE) forces repetitive exposure to firefighters.
The Fire Protection Research Foundation (the National Fire Protection Agency’s research affiliate) is asking firefighters across the country take part in a survey on the subjects of PPE cleaning and gear replacement policies in fire departments. The survey will only take a minute to complete, and the answers collected will help define policy and standards in the future. Information gathered from the PPE Care and Maintenance Survey will be published in a final summary report in December of 2013. Take the survey at http://www.nfpa.org/PPECareSurvey.
