Rule 4123:1-21-03 | Personal protective clothing and equipment for wildland fire fighting.
(A) The employer shall provide and require the use of all personal protective clothing and equipment specified in this rule whenever employees are required to work in a hazardous environment that may be encountered during wildland fire fighting activities, prescribed fire activities, or under similar conditions during training activities.
(B) The employer shall assure that protective clothing protects the head, body, and extremities and consists of at least the following components: foot protection, hand protection, body protection, and head and eye protection.
(C) Personal protective clothing and equipment shall be properly sized for the wearer.
(D) Personal protective clothing and equipment that is damaged or otherwise defective to the point of voiding its intended protection shall be removed from service.
(E) Employers shall develop and require use of a written plan covering the safe use, care, maintenance, inspection, limitations, and replacement of the clothing and equipment required by this rule, and all affected employees shall be trained in accordance with such plan.
(F) Where employees choose to provide their own protective clothing and equipment, such clothing and equipment shall give equal or greater protection than that provided by the employer.
(G) It shall be the responsibility of the employee to properly use the equipment provided by the employer as required in this rule.
(H) Body protection.
(1) Body protection shall consist of a protective coat and protective trousers, or equivalent protection.
(2) Protective clothing shall be melt-resistant, durable, lightweight, nonirritating to the skin, and cleanable.
(3) The protective coat shall have long sleeves and shall not have turned-up cuffs. Sleeve cuffs shall have a closure system that can be adjusted to provide a snug and secure fit around the wrist while wearing a glove.
(4) All collars on jackets, shirts, and one-piece garments shall remain upright after extension into a vertical position.
(5) Any pass-through openings in garments shall have a means of fastening them in a closed position.
(6) All pockets that open to the exterior of garments, other than front waist pockets, shall have a cover or closure system.
(7) All garments that encompass the neck area shall have a closure system at the neckline.
(8) All closure systems shall not come into contact with the body. Hardware of any garment shall not come into direct contact with the wearer's body.
(9) Protective clothing for wildland fire fighting shall be repaired in accordance with manufacturer's requirements. If protective clothing cannot be repaired without decreasing the protective qualities, the protective clothing shall be replaced.
(10) Protective clothing shall be designed to give minimum interference to physical movement and to the use of fire-fighting tools.
(11) Where wildland fire fighting protective clothing is required, a fire shelter shall be provided.
(12) Protective clothing shall be capable of withstanding all tests specified in the most current edition of national fire protection association standard ("NFPA") 1950.
(13) The employer shall provide a user manual that describes the care, use, inspection, maintenance, limitations, and replacement of protective clothing.
(I) Foot protection.
(1) Foot protection shall be achieved by protective workstyle boots worn in combination with protective trousers that meet the requirements of the most current edition of NFPA 1950.
(2) Protective footwear meeting the requirements of paragraph (K) of rule 4123:1- 21-02 of the Administrative Code shall be considered to be in compliance with this rule.
(3) Performance requirements.
Footwear shall be capable of withstanding all tests specified in the most current edition of NFPA 1950.
(4) The employer shall provide a user information guide that describes the care, use, inspection, maintenance, limitations, and replacement criteria.
(J) Head protection.
(1) Wildland fire fighters' helmets shall consist of a shell with brim or peak, an energy-absorbing system, suspension system with sweatband, chin strap, nape device, goggle clips, and retroreflective markings. Provisions shall be made for ventilation between the head and the shell.
(2) Helmets shall meet as a minimum the requirements for type 1, class G helmets as specified in themost current edition of American national standards institute ("ANSI") Z89.1, "Industrial Head Protection." The complete helmet, with energyabsorbing system, suspension system with sweatband, chin strap, nape device, goggle clips, and retroreflective markings shall not weigh more than twenty-seven ounces (seven hundred seventy grams).
(3) Chin straps shall be provided that attach to the shell. Both chin and nape straps shall not be less than one-half inch (thirteen millimeters) in width.
(4) All helmets shall have retroreflective markings on the exterior of the shell. A minimum of four square inches (6.4 square centimeters) of retroreflective markings shall be visible when the helmet is viewed from the sides, front, and rear. The retroreflective markings shall be placed above the goggle or headlamp clips so as not to be obscured by any clip, or the strap retained by the clips.
(5) There shall be no openings penetrating the shell except those provided by the manufacturer for mounting energy-absorbing systems, retention systems, and accessories.
(6) The addition of helmet accessories shall not interfere with the function of the helmet or its component parts and shall not degrade the helmet's performance below the requirements of this rule.
(7) Helmets shall be capable of withstanding all tests specified in the most current edition of NFPA 1977, "Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting."
(8) The employer shall provide a user information guide that describes the care, use, inspection, maintenance, limitations, and replacement criteria.
(9) Eye protection shall be provided by goggles. Goggles may be attached to the helmet.
(K) Hand protection.
(1) Gloves shall be designed such that they closely conform to the wrist or are adjustable at the wrist and shall extend a minimum on one inch (twenty-five millimeters) past the wrist crease.
(2) All thread used to manufacture gloves shall be made of inherently flame-resistant fiber.
(3) Gloves shall be maintained and repaired in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements. If gloves cannot be repaired properly without decreasing the protective qualities required by this rule, they shall be replaced with gloves that meet the requirements of this rule.
(4) The employer shall provide a user information guide that describes the care, use, inspections, maintenance, limitations, and replacement criteria.
(L) Face/neck shroud.
(1) Face/neck shrouds shall be designed to cover and provide the limited protection to the face and neck areas that do not receive primary protection from the helmet.
(2) The shroud shall attach to a helmet compliant with the most current edition of NFPA 1950.
(3) Shrouds shall have a closure system. The closure system shall not come into contact with the face or neck.
(4) The employer shall provide a user information guide that describes the care, use, inspection, maintenance, limitations, and replacement criteria.
(M) Protective goggles.
(1) Goggles shall be designed to consist of at least a frame, a lens or lenses, and a retention strap or means of attachment to a helmet compliant with the most current edition of NFPA 1950.
(2) Goggles shall meet the requirements for high impact protection of the most current edition of ANSI Z87.1, "Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection."
(3) All materials in goggle construction that are designed to come in contact with the wearer's head or skin shall be known to be nonirritating to normal skin.
(4) All hardware shall be free of rough spots, burrs, or sharp edges.
(5) Where positioned on the helmet, the goggles shall not interfere with the function of the helmet or its component parts and shall not degrade the helmet's performance below the requirements of this rule.
(6) The employer shall provide a user information guide that describes the care, use, inspection, maintenance, limitations, and replacement criteria.
(N) Chain saw protector.
(1) Chain saw protectors shall be designed as leg protectors and the most current edition of American society for testing and materials ("ASTM") F 1897.
(2) Chain saw protectors shall be capable of withstanding all tests specified in the most current edition of NFPA 1950.
(3) The employer shall provide a user information guide that describes the care, use, inspection, maintenance, limitations, and replacement criteria.
(O) Load carrying protective equipment.
(1) The load carrying protective equipment items shall allow the mounting of the fire shelter carrier on the outside as to be readily available to the user and able to be opened with one gloved hand.
(2) The load carrying protective equipment items shall allow the carrying of the employees' personal water supply in the form of canteens, water bottles, or bladders.
(3) All hardware, brackets, and snaps or other fasteners of any accessories shall be free of rough spots, burrs, or sharp edges.
(4) Load carrying protective equipment shall be capable of withstanding all tests specified in NFPA 1950.
(5) The employer shall provide a user information guide that describes the use, care, inspection, maintenance, limitations, and replacement criteria.
(P) Fire protective shelter.
(1) The fire shelter shall be enclosed in a carrying case liner, and the fire shelter and the carrying case liner shall be enclosed in a carrying case. The fire shelter, carrying case liner, and carrying case shall conform to the most current edition of NFPA 1500.
Last updated September 1, 2026 at 8:43 AM
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