The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is conducting a public review of the NIOSH draft document entitled NIOSH Alert: Preventing Deaths and Injuries of Fire Fighters When Fighting Fires in Unoccupied Structures, NIOSH Docket Number NIOSH-141. This document has been determined by NIOSH to be a Significant Guidance document, in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines under the Federal Data Quality Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-554, Section 1(a)(3)[515]). The overall goal of the review is to enhance the quality and credibility of Agency recommendations by ensuring that the scientific and technical work underlying these recommendations receives appropriate public review. This guidance document does not have the force and effect of law.

Summary

This document highlights hazards and provides recommendations for preventing fire fighter deaths and injuries when working in structures that are known or suspected to be vacant or unoccupied.  This document summarizes fatality statistics from the National Fire Protection Association as well as the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) databases.  Selected case reports from the NIOSH FFFIPP program are presented to illustrate the risks to fire fighters entering structures known to be unoccupied and to highlight recommended interventions.  The primary audiences are expected to be fire commissioners, fire chiefs, fire department and municipal managers, fire fighters, labor unions, safety and health professionals, trainers, fire investigators, State fire marshals, contractors, building owners and other interested parties.

Draft NIOSH Alert: Preventing Deaths and Injuries of Fire Fighters When Fighting Fires in Unoccupied Structures	DraftAlertUnoccupiedStructures.pdf (772kb; 16 pages)
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Public Comment Period

Written comments on the document will be accepted through March 9, 2009 in accordance with the instructions below. All material submitted to NIOSH should reference Docket Number NIOSH-141. All electronic comments should be formatted as Microsoft Word and make reference to docket number NIOSH-141.

Comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. ET on March 9, 2009

To submit comments regarding this draft publication, please use one of these options:

• Send NIOSH comments using this online form
  
  
• Send comments by email.
  
  
• Fax comments to the NIOSH Docket Office: 513-533-8285
  
  
• Send by Mail to:
  NIOSH Mailstop: C-34
  Robert A. Taft Lab.
  4676 Columbia Parkway
  Cincinnati, Ohio 45226

NIOSH Draft Documents for Public Review