BY DAVID ROSS
The William Stieger Act creating the Occu-pational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970. It led to the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The legislation's intent was to ensure that employers and employees took reasonable precautions to keep their workplaces safe for workers. Although it is a federal law, it seems that many of us in the fire and emergency services continued to see ourselves as different. There was still that macho attitude that saw us not only accepting risks but embracing them as well. As Alan Brunacini has said, "For the past 200 years, we have been providing a service at the expense of those providing the service."1
Fortunately, Brunacini continued to lead us as the original chair of NFPA 1500, Stan-dard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program. The pioneers on this committee emphasized that although the fire service is different in many ways, it had to get onboard and start taking care of its own. The goals of NFPA 1500 are "to specify the minimum requirements for an occupational safety and health program for a fire department and to specify safety guidelines for those members involved in rescue, fire suppression, emergency medical services, hazardous materials operations, special operations, and related activities."2
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