Occupational safety: firefighters: personal protective equipment.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over all employment and places of employment necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and to protect employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, has the exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations by January 1, 2016, to convene an advisory committee, composed as specified, to evaluate whether changes are needed to align certain safety orders relating to personal protective clothing and equipment for firefighters with standards promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) . The bill would require the committee to present its findings and recommendations to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board by July 1, 2016, and require the board no later than July 1, 2017, to render a decision regarding the adoption of changes to the safety orders, or other applicable standards and regulations, in order to maintain alignment with the NFPA standards. The bill would require the board, by July 1, 2018, and every 5 years thereafter, to complete a comprehensive review of all revisions to NFPA standards pertaining to personal protective equipment, as specified, and if the review finds that the revisions to applicable standards provide a greater degree of personal protection than the safety orders, the bill would require the board to consider modifying existing safety orders and to render a decision in that regard, as specified.