Breathing Apparatus and Hazardous Materials Entry Procedure

Purpose. Sets the control measures for committing crews in breathing apparatus to structure fires and hazardous materials incidents, including entry control, zoning, decontamination and emergency procedures.

1.Decision to commit

The incident controller must decide whether to commit crews in breathing apparatus based on a dynamic risk assessment of life risk, building condition, fire behaviour and the resources available. No crew will be committed to an internal attack without a safety officer, an entry control point and a rapid intervention crew in place or en route.

2.Entry control

An entry control officer must be appointed and must operate the entry control board, recording each wearer's name, set number, cylinder pressure, time of entry, planned task and the time by which they must be out. Wearers must work in pairs, stay in contact with each other and their hose line or guideline, and report at the entry control point on exit.

• Entry control officer and board at every entry
• Pairs only, never alone
• Time of whistle calculated and monitored
• Rapid intervention crew ready

3.Hazardous materials zoning

At a hazardous materials incident the incident controller must establish hot, warm and cold zones using the emergency response guide and detection equipment, control access to the hot zone through a single entry point, and locate the command point and the decontamination corridor in the cold zone upwind and upslope.

4.Detection and identification

Crews must identify the material from placards, labels, manifests, the emergency response guide and the driver or site operator before entry where possible, and must use the monitoring equipment on the hazmat appliance to detect and measure the hazard. Readings must be recorded and reported to the incident controller and the scientific adviser.

5.Personal protection and decontamination

The level of protective clothing must be set by the incident controller from the material and the task. Every member who enters the warm or hot zone must pass through the decontamination corridor on exit, and protective clothing must be bagged and tagged. Members must be monitored for symptoms after exposure and the exposure recorded in the Health and Safety Incident Register.

6.Emergency procedures

On a distress signal, a lost or trapped wearer, or an evacuation order, the entry control officer must sound the evacuation signal, the rapid intervention crew must deploy, and the incident controller must account for every member. The event must be reported and investigated as a serious incident.