PPE advanced cleaning Requirements in the New NFPA 1851

In our last column, “Detailing the changes to PPE-focused NFPA 1851,” we announced the availability of the new edition of NFPA 1851: Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, which addressed updated requirements for fire departments in terms of selection, care and maintenance of firefighter protective clothing and equipment. That edition of the standard details how firefighter PPE is to be cleaned. The annex of the standard further provides guidance to help fire departments implement the new requirements. With that as the backdrop, we’d like to focus here on how departments can go about more frequent cleaning that is dictated in the new edition of NFPA 1851.

THE NEED FOR GREATER PPE CLEANING FREQUENCY

NFPA 1851 previously required fire departments to conduct advanced cleaning of firefighter PPE at least once a year, and indicated that clothing should actually be cleaned whenever it is soiled or contaminated. Read More…