The IAFF presents dramatic testimony at a congressional hearing on a bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). General President McClennan speaks in opposition to Richard Schwieker’s (R-PA) bill to exempt 90 percent of all workplaces from routine federal job safety inspections. IAFF Burns Coordinator Tom Herz shows the charred turnout gear that failed to protect him, resulting in third-degree burns on over 80 percent of his body and eight months of hospitalization.
“In these days of budget cutting and tightening of purse strings and with the absence of mandated and enforced requirements, many of the public employers have put off the purchase of personal protective equipment for fire fighters.” He further noted that “after eight years of effort by the IAFF in getting OSHA to understand the seriousness of the occupational hazards involved in firefighting, we are fearful that our work will be nullified by the OSHA enforcement bill before us.”IAFF President William H. McClennan (1969-1980)
