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2007 edition of NFPA 1982, Standard on Personal Alert
Safety Systems (PASS), Now Available
Performance Issues Addressed in New Edition
February 9, 2007 -- The National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) today announced that the 2007 edition of NFPA
1982 Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) is now available online
at www.nfpa.org/pass. In addition, NFPA has posted an alert notice on its website
regarding PASS. The new edition of the standard addresses issues raised regarding
performance issues of PASS certified to previous editions of the standard.
In late 2005, NFPA
published an alert notice entitled “PASS alarm signals can fail at high
temperatures” on the NFPA website advising emergency responders, especially
fire fighters, of high temperature exposures causing the loudness of PASS
alarm signals to be reduced and making the alarm signal indistinguishable
from background noise at the incident scene. This
problem was brought to the attention of the NFPA Technical Committee on Electronic
Safety Equipment (the Technical Committee) by the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation
and Prevention Program.
NIOSH reported that
during the investigation of four fire fighter fatalities that occurred from
2001 to 2004, the PASS alarm signals were not heard or were barely audible. The PASS had been certified as compliant to NFPA 1982,
Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS), 1998 Edition, and involved
both stand-alone PASS and
Laboratory testing
of PASS by the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Fire
Research Division showed that this sound reduction
begins to occur at temperatures as low as 300° F (150° C) and affected all
PASS evaluated by NIST that were certified to the 1998 edition and earlier
editions of NFPA 1982.
Principal Changes
to NFPA 1982
Once notified of
the possible deficiencies in PASS, the NFPA Technical Committee on Electronic
Safety Equipment, in cooperation with NIOSH and NIST, studied the issue and
incorporated revisions into the 2007 edition of NFPA 1982. The new edition of NFPA 1982 contains revisions providing
for strengthened performance requirements and testing addressing the alarm
signal degradation issue and also addresses other issues including problems
caused by vibration, probably during transportation, and water ingress into
the electronic and power supply compartments. The principal
changes contained in the 2007 edition of NFPA 1982 are:
1.)
new water immersion
requirements and testing for PASS where PASS is exposed to 350° F for 15
minutes and then to water submersion in 1.5 meters (4.9 ft) also for 15 minutes
for each of 6 cycles; and PASS examined to determine no water ingress, all
PASS signals must function properly, and electronic data logging functions
must operate properly; following this, PASS is re-immersed in the test water
for additional 5 minutes with the power source compartment(s) open, and following
the 5 minutes the PASS is removed from water and wiped dry, then the electronics
compartment is opened and examined to determine no water ingress;
2.)
new high temperature
functionality requirements and testing to now have PASS mounted in a circulating
hot air oven at 500° F for 5 minutes and the PASS alarm signal must function
at or above the required 95 dBA sound level, electronic data logging functions
must operate properly, and no part of the PASS can show evidence of melting,
dripping, or igniting;
3.)
new tumble-vibration
requirements and testing for PASS where PASS is “tumbled” in a rotating drum
for 3 hours and the PASS alarm signal must function at the required 95 dBA
sound level and electronic data logging functions must operate properly;
4.)
new “muffling” of
the alarm signal requirements and testing for PASS where PASS is mounted
on a test subject and evaluated in five positions (face down w/arms extended,
supine left, supine right, fetal right w/knees drawn to chest, fetal left
w/knees drawn to chest), and the alarm signal must function at or above the
required 95 dBA sound level
Reporting PASS
Malfunctions
Emergency services
organizations and emergency responder personnel are encouraged to report
any PASS malfunctions and other problems with proper functioning of PASS
directly to both the certification organization whose certification mark
appears on the PASS, and to NIOSH – NPPTL. They
can be reached at:
§
SEI, the Safety
Equipment Institute (certification organization), e-mail at: info@seinet.org
§
NIOSH – NPPTL, the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – National Personal
Protection Technical Laboratory at: NPPTL_PASS@cdc.gov
Important Safety
Recommendations for the Fire Service and other PASS users.
In spite of the
problems with PASS, NFPA believes that PASS remain an important tool for
fire fighters and other emergency responders. NFPA
recommends that, at least until PASS designed and certified to the new 2007
edition of NFPA 1982 become available, emergency responders continue to
maintain and use existing PASS. Users are cautioned,
however, that both the existing as well as the new PASS (when available)
should always be considered a last resort call for help for emergency responder
personnel who are unable to otherwise notify others that they are in distress. Fire fighters and other emergency responders should continue
to activate and wear PASS whenever in hazardous areas of any incident, but
should also be aware of the possibility that hostile conditions may adversely
affect the operation of PASS. Incident command should
continue to apply all personnel accountability measures at all incidents
to assure the safe entrance and exit of personnel from hazardous areas. Direct supervision of operating companies or teams should
provide for the safe operating locations of personnel and ensure that members
do not “freelance” on the incident scene.
NFPA has been a worldwide leader in providing fire, electrical, building, and life safety to the public since 1896. The mission of the international nonprofit organization is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing. and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training and education. Visit NFPA's Web site at www.nfpa.org.
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