A proposal to expand OSHA regulations to first responders has caught the attention of local fire service leaders.

OSHA – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – is working through a rulemaking process that would govern how its regulations impact volunteer responders.

According to the National Volunteer Fire Council that includes “prohibitively restrictive standards on physical exams, the purchase of new equipment, and the formation of emergency plans that exceed the staffing capabilities of many volunteer departments.”

“Volunteers have always been exempt from the regulations of OSHA and doing so would force many to fail due to the requirements and funding needed to meet the burden of the regulations,” Paul Pascuzzi, chair of the Council of Governments, said in an email to elected officials.

He asked elected officials to contact Congressman Glenn Thompson “to let them know that we do not support the expansion of OSHA Regulations to the Volunteer first responders.”

According to the national council, OSHA’s regulatory process started back in December and aimed to update a standard that had not been updated since 1980.

“This proposed updated standard would issue several new requirements that would be very burdensome, and in many cases impossible, for volunteer fire departments to comply with,” they concluded.