Protecting Our Protectors

2005-10-18

A firefighter never forgets his first fire. For Roy Hollet, it took place in the paint shop of a hardware store. As each can exploded, the flames became the colour of the paint.

"It was the first time I understood why you stay low. You were standing up, and the visor appeared to be warping, it was so hot," says the deputy fire chief at Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency.

Danger from all angles

A firefighter's life involves risk from any number of sources — human rescue, chemical spills and contamination, severe weather emergencies or carbon monoxide leaks, not to mention collapsing buildings, and the stress from working in environments reaching several hundred degrees while wearing 50 pounds of gear. Then there's the danger of staying in the fire too long, building up internal metabolic heat.

"It's like the proverbial roast beef. You take it out of the oven and it continues to cook," says David Ross, chief health and safety officer at Toronto Fire Services. In the old days, a firefighter knew it was time to retreat when he could no longer bear the pain on his ears. Today the ears are protected by a balaclava, and there's an army of scientists, researchers and organizations working in concert to minimize a firefighter's risk.

Focus on the job, not the equipment

Standards play a crucial role in this process, affecting every facet and protocol of a given fire department. And while the general public is often unaware of the role a standard plays in producing a safe society, the firefighters themselves are very aware, because they need to trust their gear as absolutely and unconditionally as they trust their fellow firefighters.

"Most firefighters don't even think about their gear because they know it's been tested," says Hollet. "Even though it's a tendering process, we buy the best gear out there for our firefighters. That's somewhere where you cannot cut corners, when it comes to Personal Protective Equipment. You want the firefighter to focus on the job, and not have to worry, is my jacket going to rip? Is it going to sustain the heat? Is my Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) going to work? That's the last thing you want them to think about. They should be so comfortable in it that they're not even thinking about it," he says.

Balancing values in development of product standards

Standards also make firefighters aware of the limitations of their gear, such as how much heat it can withstand before it begins to burn. If a firefighter is caught in a flashover, his gear may provide between five and 10 seconds of protection, hopefully enough time to get back out.

A firefighter's gear includes the SCBA, and the bunker suit ensemble consisting of boots, bunker pants, bunker jacket, flash hood, helmet, helmet liner and gloves. The boots have a steel toe and shank to protect against puncture or crushing injuries. The bunker pants and jacket consist of three separate layers. The outer shell has some degree of fire retardancy, so it won't continue to burn.

"There are specific things that are in the standard, like how much heat it can withstand before it will burn," says Ross. The middle layer is GORE-TEX™ and acts as a moisture barrier, allowing steam to release, but keeping water out. The inner layer is a thermal liner, which protects a firefighter from the heat. "There’s pretty rigorous specifications as to materials you can use, as to how they're sewn and everything else," says Ross.

Firefighters face a trade-off between personal protection and cardiovascular and thermal strain when performing their duties. A suit could be made that would withstand much more heat or flame, but it would be much heavier and more difficult for the firefighter to move in. These kinds of factors are all considered when developing a product standard.

Standards establish consistency across the country

While large urban fire departments may have entire sections devoted to education and awareness, many small towns rely on volunteer fire departments. According to Christian Tardif, a standardization team leader at the Bureau de normalisation du Quebec (BNQ) , this type of smaller organization is particularly reliant on the authority that a standard gives them.

Like its counterparts, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB), and Underwriters' Laboratories Canada (ULC), BNQ is committed to developing standards that address the needs identified by Canadians while at the same time minimizing duplication or overlap.

"In a perfect world, only one standard that covered all of North America would be better," says Tardif. So since both the BNQ and CGSB have similar standards governing protective equipment for firefighters, BNQ is phasing out their four applicable standards effective January 2006. "The CGSB has a national standard for garments (CAN/CGSB-155.1-2001), so the reason for keeping a different standard here in Quebec doesn't exist anymore," says Tardif.

Where Canadian safety standards stand internationally

The CGSB standards are very much in harmony with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), an American standards development organization that has developed over 300 consensus codes and standards affecting building, process, service, design and installation. Its standards not only establish performance and design requirements for manufacturing protective clothing and equipment, but also recommend guidelines for a fire department's standard operating procedures. Working together, these standards ensure the gear performs the way it was intended, from creation through to retirement.

But while the CGSB and NFPA standards are very similar, Philip Miller, a standards specialist at CGSB, believes it is beneficial to have a separate Canadian standard because the Canadian laboratories that actually do the testing are more familiar with it. And different nations have different operating procedures, thus different needs, requiring separate standards.

Standardization saving lives

In addition to standards governing firefighter protective gear, CGSB also has a standard for Personal Body Armour (CAN/CGSB-179.1-2001). Body armour is the most important piece of protective gear in a police officer's arsenal, as Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable Dan Brisson learned first hand. On March 10, 2001, during a routine traffic stop, a suspect with a 45 calibre handgun fired a shot directly at Brisson's back, three inches below the collar of his protective vest. The vest did its job that day, stopping the bullet from entering Brisson's spine. "I have confidence in my vest, especially after what happened," he says. "Some officers’ lives have been saved, even in car accidents, wearing those vests."

Manufacturers see the benefits of certification

Manufacturers spend thousands of dollars each year testing and researching their products. Being certified by an accredited product certification body identifies them to both public and private sector buyers as a supplier committed to quality and safety.

Certification by an accredited organization shows that the manufacturer has met the requirements for performance, safety and/or quality set out in a nationally or internationally recognized standard. The process includes an audit of the facility and testing of the product. A product that meets the necessary criteria may be issued a unique listing number that is displayed, along with the certification mark, on the garment's label. The description of the supplier, along with a list of products and services, is then displayed on the certified product list online, accessible to purchasers, government, corporations, retailers and the public.

Toronto-based Starfield Lion Company recognizes the value of having its products certified by an accredited product certification body. They spend $60,000 to $80,000 a year in testing criteria, and manufacture firefighter protective gear to five different Canadian and American standards.

"It is important that the product sold is built under standards, and is respected for that. There's a lot of design development expense for the manufacturers of both the materials and the final component. It is important that the manufacturer is using recognized components. The firefighter has enough issues on his plate to take care of the fire and not have to worry about the gear that he's been given to use," says Loren Lori, general manager at Starfield Lion.

When purchasing textiles to manufacture bunker gear, Lori says consistency of fabric is an important factor. And because the North American textile mills build to the same standards that he uses in manufacturing, he knows the proportion of Nomex™ with Kevlar™ and graphite for static discharge will remain the same. Textiles coming from offshore mills do not build to the same standards. "It may be labelled Nomex™, but there's still an uncertainty to it," says Lori. "Is it 100 per cent Nomex™? Does it build to any test or standard? Because when you buy it, it will just say Nomex™. It's like buying cheese. What is the percentage of fat and everything else? That's still an uncertainty. The fire suit stuff, you can't fool around with this."

High-end professional consumers expect products to be certified

Revision Eyewear Ltd., based in Montreal and Williston, Vermont is another company that recognizes the value of standards. They manufacture ballistic eyewear, including a pair of goggles that can withstand a shotgun blast from a distance of 16 feet (five metres). Their list of clients includes the Canadian Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), OPP and various policing units throughout the country.

"When we decided to get into this element of the business, the military side, it was critically important for us to embrace not only standards in and of themselves, but the mentality that standards were important, and that meeting them consistently and understanding them was the best way to ensure that our products were as good as they can be," says CEO Jonathan Blanshay. Their eyewear underwent different tests to validate the quality of the product, including tests for impact resistance, abrasion resistance and flame retardancy.

"I think what standards do in the end, is force companies to make a decision – either you are a company that invests in quality and in development and testing, or you’re one that says no, it’s really more important that it’s fashion and style and colours and packing."

Typically standards are reviewed every five years to ensure they remain useful and relevant. As manufacturers, scientists and professional organizations worldwide work to improve protective gear for firefighters and other first responders, the standards will continue to evolve.

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This article first appeared in Volume 32 of CONSENSUS Magazine, 2005.  The information it contains was accurate at the time of publication but has not been updated or revised since, and may not reflect the latest updates on the topic.  If you have specific questions or concerns about the content, please contact the Standards Council of Canada.

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