BGD Safety and Compliance

The New Jersey Fire Code will now be implementing restrictions on the use of mulch around commercial buildings. If you currently have mulch in place not conforming to the below, you must correct by April 15th,2025. Take a look below at a great one pager created by the Brick Township Fire Department explaining it all.

Fire service leaders lets talk about RIC (rapid intervention crew). RIC is a team of firefighters trained, equipped for, and assigned to rescue trapped or disoriented firefighters if needed. This is a requirement at all fires or operations in an IDLH atmosphere and helps to fulfill your "two out" required under 29CFR 1910.134(g)(4). Remember the "R" stands for RAPID. If your RIC team is coming from across the county that is not rapid! The state of New Jersey does not currently have a certification requirement to serve as part of a RIC team. Any firefighter can be trained to the requirements of NFPA 1407 through in house drills or attendance at a number of approved RIC training courses and serve as part of a RIC team! Lets change the mindset for this critical safety role on the fireground and start looking at all firefighters as being able to be assigned RIC to bring the RAPID back to RIC. Share your thoughts below. #OSHA #BGDSafety #RIC

Ice rescue season is in full swing with many departments completing their annual training and posting pictures on social media. Ensure your using the proper PPE in those pictures or you may receive an OSHA / state OSHA agency inspection and notice of violation as multiple departments already have this year!

Attention employers: Even if OSHA were to be limited or god forbid abolished you would still need to continue complying as you currently do because: 1. Civil litigation would still exist for employee injuries and consensus standards or industry best practices would be used to show your negligence. 2. Employees will not want to work in workplaces with unnecessary hazards. 3. Injuries in the workplace and poor safety measures reduce employee morale. 4. Poor safety performance deducts from your bottom line reducing profit and increasing down time. 5. Negative stigma associated with lack of safety can result in loss of current customers or disqualification from earning new business with customers who value safety. 6. Your building insurance provider will still expect that you minimize their risk of loss through preventative measures such as hot work and fire safety programs. 7. Your workers compensation provider will still expect that you minimize their risk of loss through implementation of comprehensive safety programs to reduce or prevent injury. #safety #BGDSafety #OSHA #safetyfirst

Attention New Jersey fire service leaders. Do you have formal incident safety officer training? If not get yourself scheduled for a class! The New Jersey Division of Fire Safety is looking to make incident safety officer training a requirement for incident commanders in 2026 since this becomes the responsibility of incident command in the event an incident safety officer is not assigned. This would also indicate the person serving as the ISO would be required to have the same training. #safety #OSHA #firedept #NFPA1500 #NFPA1550 #BGDsafety

We just finished reviewing the recently released significant incident report on the firefighter fatality that occurred in Loudoun County, VA during a house explosion in February of 2024. While all the findings are too much for a single post, it is worth review by all responders, company officers, and incident commanders. Highlights include lack of understanding of the gas monitor readings, straying from established procedures including evacuation zones and PPE requirements, and breakdown of accountability at the time of the explosion. Above all that, the real true root cause of the incident is the extreme lack of responsibility by the propane company who filled the underground tank with 125 gallons of propane, realized it was leaking, decided not to recover the propane, and left the scene allowing an active large volume leak to occur. We can all learn from this report when dealing with flammable gas leaks which is a fairly common occurrence for most departments.

How is your agency preparing for the OSHA emergency response standard proposal? One of the first items you could be working on now is your risk management plan. Not only will it be required under the OSHA proposal, but NFPA 1550 already requires one as well as many state level regulations! A risk management plan is?a written document that identifies, analyzes, and prioritizes potential or confirmed risks within an organization, then identifies specific actions to mitigate, reduce or avoid those risks, aiming to minimize their negative impact and maximize the chances of achieving goals;?essentially, it's a structured approach to managing uncertainties that could affect success. We have already helped numerous departments establish a risk management plan from the ground up. Reach out to #BGDSAFETY today to start the conversation! #OSHA #29CFR1910 #Emergencyresponse #RMP #Riskmanagement #BGDSafety #NJFireService

We spent this past extended weekend at the New Jersey Fireman's Convention looking at the latest and greatest equipment and solutions around emergency response health and safety. Below are some items we wanted to call out and will be implementing into departments / companies we work with. 1. The F-500 Encapsulator agent by Hazard Control Technologies, Inc. is a game changer for multipurpose extinguishing agents. A a price comparable to a class D fire extinguisher, this agent can handle all fires including class A, B, C, D, K, and Lithium Ion battery fires. 2. HEN Nozzles are a great option to improve water application for faster extinguishment with less water. Check out their demo videos as they speak for themselves. Ray McCormack 3. We loved the SENSIT Technologies gas monitors. They are very user friendly and should be considered by anyone in the market for a combustible gas or four-gas monitor. 4. Continuing on gas meters check out RKI monitors at the below link. If you need a four or five gas monitor attached to your personnel but don't have a huge budget, the GX-3R Pro is a great option at under $600 per unit. (https://lnkd.in/gsvJyR8q) 5. Holmatro extrication tools continue to be a leader in the industry with the power and versatility of the Pentheon battery power line of tools taking vehicle extrication to the next level. 6. Need portable ventilation but have limited space? Take a look at the new Blow Hard Squirt PPV Fan newly released. The other Blow Hard Fans on the market already blew us out of the water, but the Squirt with a 17in fan blade is a space saver without any loss of power or functionality over the previous larger model. (https://lnkd.in/gfwWTzmN) 7. Battery powered saws have been slowly taking over the emergency response space due to versatility, lower maintenance needs, and lighter weight. We looked at all the options and highly recommend the Husqvarna Group products. 8. A special shout out to 10-75 Emergency Vehicles who continues to innovate and deliver the best product we have seen in our area for apparatus and command vehicle lighting, emergency warning devices, command consoles, cabinets, and custom tool mounting. We toured their shop before the convention and will be a part of their 10-75 chatter podcast release this week. (More to come). Larry Kohan Brendan Gates Ryan Dodd

This week we hosted another class on OSHA compliance for emergency responders with heavy emphasis on the proposed new regulations. This was our largest class by far with around 115 emergency responders in attendance. Thank you Sussex County NJ Fire Chiefs Association for this opportunity. Thank you to Beemerville Fire Company in Wantage Township for hosting the class. #SussexCounty #OSHA #BGDSafety #EmergencyResponse

How Does Safety / EHS Contribute to Profit and Loss of a Business? Often EHS is seen as a cost center with no return on investment. The EHS department is often the first to be cut during hard times and the last to be grown during expansion or periods of financial success. This is indicative of lack of executive leadership understanding of how EHS contributes to P&L. Legal Liability Avoidance: Prevention of an injury or at minimum, putting the right processes in place, are way less expensive than the costs of litigation and settlement payouts as a result of an injury or illness that could have been prevented. This then leads to negative publicity for the company (more on that below) and higher insurance premiums for years to come due to increased EMR rates. Regulatory Action Prevention: EHS regulations whether they be from federal, state, or local level are laws. There is no requirement for an EHS subject matter expert to be on staff, but there is a requirement that there be a responsible party. Many times, the responsible party is ultimately the business owner or executive leadership who may not have that expertise. It is was less expensive to do the right thing than to wait for OSHA, EPA, DEP, DEQ, or other enforcement agencies to show up and initiate their process for non-conforming companies. Increased Employee Output: A well-executed and funded EHS program can easily boost employee morale and drive improved productivity, thus increasing output and allowing leaders to achieve their KPIs. Whether you track cost per case or parts per person, direct labor expense is often one of the most important KPIs a business looks at. Items such as employee involvement, visible management commitment, high quality PPE, safety shoe or prescription glasses reimbursement programs, and ongoing training will set your organization apart from others. In return, employees will stay longer, work harder, call out less, and feel energized to be a part of a successful organization. Protection of Business Reputation: As discussed, prior, lack of EHS programs and easily lead to negative business reputation. It only takes one severe incident to result in a negative press release about your company that may result in loss of existing business, prevention of acquiring future business, and difficulty in recruiting high performing talent that doesn’t want to be associated with your company. Deliver Shareholder Value: Want to deliver shareholder value or make your company more marketable to acquisition? Most times regulatory risk is a huge piece of the decision-making process and lack of an adequate EHS program is a huge red flag. More often than not, larger customers are asking for Social Compliance Audits with an EHS portion, or looking for a certification such as ISO14001/45001. Obtaining and maintaining these certifications will set you apart from the rest and set you up for success.?