OSHA Inspection: WACKENHUT SERVICES, INCORPORATED

Issued

Aug 29, 1997

Abate by

Sep 8, 1997

Penalty

Initial $4,500

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970:
The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which
were free from
recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious
physical harm to
employees in that: employees were exposed to the hazards of fire, heat and
smoke:
(a)  Sweetwater Ranch - Employees were fighting a brush fire using brush
truck #45 which was
known to have problems with the pumping system.  During the course of
fighting the brush fire,
the pumping system on brush truck 45 malfunctioned, resulting in the
reduction and/or cessation
of water causing employees to retreat from the fire zone.  During the
retreat and return to the
incident command, one of the firefighters became separated from the others
and was not reported
as missing for approximately 20 minutes, on or about July 15, 1997.
ABATEMENT VERIFICATION REQUIRED FOR THIS ITEM.
ONE FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE METHOD OF ABATEMENT WOULD BE TO
FOLLOW NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION STANDARDS WHICH
INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
1.  a)  Follow 1992 Edition National Fire Protection Association Standard
1500, Fire
Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, Chapter 4 Vehicles and
Equipment,
Section 4-4 Inspection, Maintenance, and Repair of Vehicles 4-4.1, which
states "All fire
department vehicles shall be inspected at least weekly, within 24 hours
after any use or repair,
and prior to being placed in service or used for emergency purposes to
identify and correct
unsafe conditions".
b)  Follow 1992 Edition National Fire Protection Association Standard
1500, Fire
Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, Chapter 4 Vehicles and
Equipment,
Section 4-4 Inspection, Maintenance, and Repair of Vehicles 4-4.3, which
states "The fire
department shall establish a list of major defects to be utilized to
evaluate when a vehicle shall
be declared unsafe.  Any fire department vehicle found to be unsafe shall
be placed out of
service until repaired".
2.  a)  Follow 1992 Edition National Fire Protection Association Standard
1500, Fire
Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, Chapter 6 Emergency
Operations, Section
6-3 Accountability 6-3.1, which states "The fire department shall
establish written standard
operating procedures for a personnel accountability system in accordance
with Section 4-3 of
NFPA 1561, Standard on Fire Department Incident Management System, and
that provides for
the tracking and inventory of all members operating at an emergency
incident". (updated in the
1995 edition to Section 2-6).
b)  Follow 1995 Edition National Fire Protection Association Standard
1561, Fire Department
Incident Management System, Chapter 2 System Structure, Section 2-6
Personnel Accountability
2-6.2 states "The fire department shall adopt and routinely use a system
to
maintain
accountability for all personnel assigned to the incident.  This system
shall provide a rapid
accounting of all personnel at the incident scene".