Policy - Personal Protective Equipment and Contamination Control

Format. Adopt as a policy approved by the fire chief or the governing body, or as a standard operating guideline or directive, as the department’s document hierarchy provides. Keep the section numbering, because the program, the procedures and the audit checklist refer to it.

Drafting conventions. Shall is mandatory. Should is expected unless a documented reason exists. May is permitted. Placeholders in double curly braces, such as {{Department}}, are completed by the department. Drafting notes sit in callouts and are removed before adoption.

Keep intact. The policy statements in section 5, the roles in section 6, the records clauses in section 8 and the four house principles in section 4. Adapt. The scope in section 2 to the modules the department runs, the training table in section 10, the review dates, and any clause where the law of your province or territory is stricter (see the Jurisdiction requirements table at the end).

1.1 To state the department’s commitment that every member is provided with protective clothing and equipment that fits, is certified to the current standard, is clean, inspected and in service life, and that fireground contaminants are controlled at the scene, in the apparatus and in the station so that they do not reach members’ skin, lungs, living areas or families.

1.2 To assign accountability for that commitment to the chain of command and to point to the programs and procedures that carry it out.

2.1 This policy applies to every member of the department, career, volunteer and paid-on-call, and to investigators, instructors, mechanics, facilities staff, administrative staff who enter stations, and contractors working in department facilities.

2.2 It applies to every protective ensemble and item the department issues: structural, proximity, wildland and interface, hazardous materials, technical rescue, water and ice rescue, medical response, station and work apparel, high-visibility apparel, helmets, hoods, gloves, boots, eye and face protection and hearing protection. Respirators and self-contained breathing apparatus are governed by the Respiratory Protection policy and program; this policy governs the interface between the ensemble and the facepiece.

2.3 It applies at every incident, training evolution, station, shop and vehicle where products of combustion, hazardous materials or biological contaminants may be present, including fire investigation and live fire training.

2.4 Hazardous materials decontamination at the scene and infection control after biological exposure are governed by their own policies; this policy applies to fireground contaminants and hands off at the point where the contaminant is a hazardous material, a biological agent or an unknown.

2.5 Modules the department does not run (for example hazardous materials technician response or water rescue) are switched off in the Program Profile Worksheet and the corresponding ensemble clauses do not apply.

• Advanced cleaning: thorough cleaning of an ensemble element in a programmable extractor or by a verified independent service provider, after exposure to products of combustion and on a schedule (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6).
• Advanced inspection: detailed inspection of every layer of an ensemble element by a trained member or a verified provider, at least every 12 months and after exposure or repair (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 7).
• Clean cab: keeping contaminated protective clothing, SCBA, tools and hose out of the crew compartment of an apparatus (NFPA 1585, 2025, ch. 6).
• Contamination control zones: the red (likely contaminated), yellow (transition) and green (clean) areas of a station (NFPA 1550, 2024, s. 12.5).
• Ensemble: the coat, trousers, helmet, hood, gloves and boots that together protect against a hazard, with the SCBA facepiece interface.
• Exposure report: the per-member record of an exposure to fireground or other contaminants and the decontamination done (NFPA 1550, 2024, ch. 16).
• Hierarchy of contamination control: elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative controls and PPE, applied in that order (FSRI, 2025).
• Preliminary exposure reduction: the on-scene sequence of gross decontamination, doffing, hood exchange, skin wipes and bagging done before transport (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6).
• Products of combustion: gases, vapours and particulates produced by a fire, including known and suspected carcinogens.
• Retirement: permanent removal of an element from emergency service, at 10 years from the date of manufacture or earlier on condition (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 10).
• Routine inspection and routine cleaning: the wearer’s own check and light cleaning of each element after every use.
• Specialized cleaning: cleaning for a hazardous material, biological or unknown contaminant by a method chosen for that contaminant.
• Verified ISP: an independent service provider whose cleaning, inspection and repair operation has been verified by a third party under the standard (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 11).

1. People are the solution we build around, not the problem to fix. The member who wears the gear and does the decontamination is the department’s best source of knowledge about how to make both work.

2. Procedures describe work as done, written with the people who do it. No procedure under this policy is written or changed without a learning-team session with the members who do the task (Hollnagel, 2014; Conklin, 2012).

3. Learning comes before blame, and learning information is never used for discipline. A member who wore damaged gear, skipped a step or worked around a rule is a source of information about the conditions that made that the easiest path; conduct concerns go to a separate process run by different people (Reason, 1997; Dekker, 2016).

4. Psychological safety is a condition of safety, so speaking up is expected and protected. Any member may refuse to wear gear they believe is contaminated, damaged or ill-fitting, may say “I’m not taking my mask off yet”, and may delay a unit’s return to service to decontaminate; the officer acknowledges, acts and answers (Edmondson, 1999)DOI.

5. Personal protective equipment is the last line of defence. The department applies the hierarchy of contamination control and reports every year what it has done at each tier, strongest first (FSRI, 2025).

6. Occupational exposure as a firefighter is carcinogenic to humans (IARC, 2023). The hour after the fire is where the department’s contribution to that risk is made or reduced, and this policy is built for that hour.

7. The department can prove it. Every ensemble element has a record from purchase to retirement and every exposure is logged, so that a member’s protection, and a member’s claim, never rest on memory.

8. Equity in protection. Every member is fitted in person for every element, in the full range of body types the department employs, with a custom route at no cost to the member; fit is a protection requirement, not an accommodation.

5.1 Provision and selection. The department shall provide, at no cost to the member, every protective ensemble and item required for the hazards the member is assigned to, certified to the current edition of the applicable product standard, selected and specified through the Equipment Standards team with formal JOHSC consultation before adoption, and bought to the written specification without substitution on price. Accountable: {{Deputy Chief}}.

5.2 Fit and issue. Every member shall be fitted in person for every element, and the fit and issue recorded. Members outside the stock size range shall receive a tailored or custom pattern without delay. Accountable: {{PPE Program Manager}}.

5.3 Two sets of structural gear. No member shall be sent to a call in structural gear that has been exposed to products of combustion and not cleaned. The department shall meet this by issuing two structural ensembles to every suppression member by {{Second set date}}, and until then by a loaner pool sized so that no member is without clean gear for more than 24 hours. Every suppression member shall be issued at least two hoods and two pairs of structural gloves. Accountable: {{Deputy Chief}}.

5.4 Inspection. Members shall inspect every element after every use and at the start of every duty period and report findings the same day. Every structural and proximity ensemble element shall receive an advanced inspection at least every 12 months, after any exposure that required advanced cleaning, after repair and on any routine finding, by a trained member or a verified independent service provider (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 7). Accountable: {{PPE Program Manager}}.

5.5 Cleaning. Every structural ensemble element shall receive advanced cleaning after every exposure to products of combustion and at least at the interval the department adopts in the program, which shall not be longer than the minimum the standard sets (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6). Advanced cleaning shall be done only in an extractor dedicated to protective clothing, operated to the standard and the manufacturer’s limits, or by a verified independent service provider. Protective clothing, hoods and gloves shall never be laundered at home, in a public laundromat or in a machine shared with station wear or bedding. Accountable: {{PPE Program Manager}}.

5.6 Repair and retirement. Repairs shall be made only by the manufacturer, a verified provider or a trained technician using the manufacturer’s materials, within the standard’s limits, and every repaired element shall be advanced-inspected before return to service (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 8). Every element shall be retired no later than 10 years from its date of manufacture and earlier on condition, rendered unusable for emergency service, and recorded (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 10). Retired gear shall never be used in live fire training, sold, donated or given to a member for use at a fire. Accountable: {{PPE Program Manager}}.

5.7 Storage. Protective clothing shall be stored clean and dry in a ventilated space out of direct sunlight and diesel exhaust, never in living, sleeping, kitchen or office areas, never in the crew cab when not in use, and never in a member’s home living space or personal vehicle cab. Accountable: station officers; for volunteer home storage, the member under the issue record.

5.8 Preliminary exposure reduction at the scene. Before any member who worked in the hot or warm zone of a fire doffs their ensemble, the incident commander shall ensure gross decontamination, hood exchange, skin wipes and bagging of contaminated gear are done, shall not release a crew until they are, and shall release crews as soon as their operational responsibilities end (NFPA 1585, 2025, ch. 7 and 8). Members shall keep SCBA on through overhaul, salvage and investigation until atmospheric monitoring shows readings below the department’s action levels (NFPA 1550, 2024, s. 16.5.2). Investigators, instructors and command staff are included. Accountable: incident commander, verified by the {{Incident Safety Officer}}.

5.9 Clean cab and transport. No contaminated protective clothing, SCBA, tools or hose shall travel in the crew compartment. New apparatus shall be specified for clean-cab operation (NFPA 1585, 2025, ch. 6). Bagged gear shall travel in an exterior compartment to the station’s dirty-side decon area or the pickup point and shall not be taken into a member’s home. Accountable: company officer; {{Deputy Chief}} for apparatus specification.

5.10 Post-call decontamination. Every exposed member shall shower within 60 minutes of leaving the scene and change into clean station wear; the unit shall be out of service for that hour unless the deployment risk requires otherwise and the officer records the exception; gear, SCBA, tools, hose and the cab shall be cleaned or sent for cleaning before the unit returns to service. Accountable: company officer.

5.11 Exposure logging. Every exposure at a fire, hazardous materials incident or significant smoke event shall be logged per member before the end of the shift, or within 24 hours for a volunteer, in the department’s exposure record, and the record shall be retained for the period in section 8 and be available to the member (NFPA 1550, 2024, ch. 16). The {{JOHSC}} shall review exposure trends annually. Accountable: {{Health and Safety Officer}} for the system; company officer for completion.

5.12 Station zoning and diesel exhaust. Every station shall be divided into red, yellow and green zones with marked boundaries and posted rules, and no protective clothing, contaminated tools, hose or SCBA shall enter a green zone (NFPA 1550, 2024, s. 12.5); (NFPA 1585, 2025, ch. 5). Diesel exhaust shall be captured at source in every bay whenever an engine runs, and the system maintained (NFPA 1585, 2025, ch. 5 and 6). Stations that cannot meet this shall have a funded retrofit plan. Accountable: {{Deputy Chief}} responsible for facilities.

5.13 PFAS and chemical disclosure. The department shall require, for every ensemble tender, the restricted substances test report from an accredited laboratory including the total fluorine result, full chemical disclosure of every layer including any flame retardant, and independent toxicity data for any substitute (NFPA 1970, 2025; Herkert et al., 2025DOI), and shall maintain a transition plan to gear without intentionally added PFAS, consulted with the {{JOHSC}}. Accountable: {{Deputy Chief}}.

5.14 Records. Every ensemble element shall have a record from purchase to retirement with the fields in the program, and every advanced inspection, cleaning, repair and retirement shall be recorded against the serial number (NFPA 1850, 2026). Accountable: {{PPE Coordinator}}.

5.15 Program ownership and improvement. The Protective Clothing, Equipment and Decontamination Program Improvement Team shall own the two programs under this policy, review them quarterly, appraise them annually, and run a learning-team session before any procedure under this policy is written or changed (06 Program Improvement Teams). Accountable: {{PPE Program Manager}}.

5.16 Speaking up. A member who raises a concern about gear or decontamination shall receive an answer within five working days through the route in the programs, and shall never face reprisal for raising it, for refusing contaminated or damaged gear, for keeping a facepiece on, or for delaying a return to service to decontaminate. Accountable: every officer; verified by the {{Health and Safety Officer}}.

Only the differences from 01 Roles and Responsibilities.

6.1 {{Fire Chief}}: approves this policy; ensures the programs are resourced, including the second set of gear, the extractor or verified provider, and the station retrofit plan; receives the annual appraisal.

6.2 {{Deputy Chief}}: accountable for provision, selection, the second-set date, apparatus specification, facilities zoning and diesel capture; escalates overdue corrective actions to the fire chief on the timelines of the department’s priority scale in the Corrective Action Register.

6.3 {{PPE Program Manager}}: the line officer leading the Program Improvement Team; accountable for the outcome of both programs; presents the quarterly update and annual appraisal; owns the programs’ corrective actions.

6.4 {{PPE Coordinator}}: runs the programs day to day: records, the inspection and cleaning schedule, the loaner pool, the retirement forecast; the personal protective clothing manager of the standard (NFPA 1850, 2026, s. 4.2.4).

6.5 {{Decon Lead}}: keeps decon kits, station zoning plans and decon logs current; answers members’ decontamination concerns.

6.6 PPE technicians and the {{Verified ISP}}: advanced inspection, advanced and specialized cleaning, repair, within their training and verification.

6.7 Incident commanders and the {{Incident Safety Officer}}: order and verify preliminary exposure reduction; control SCBA removal; release crews.

6.8 Company officers: routine inspection dispositions; post-call decontamination; the out-of-service hour; the decon log and exposure reports; answering concerns the same day.

6.9 Members: inspect, clean and store their own gear; report findings and exposures; do their own decontamination; speak up.

6.10 {{Health and Safety Officer}}: verifies the programs against law and standards; runs the exposure record reconciliation; samples records; audits annually.

6.11 {{JOHSC}}: standing consultant on the Program Improvement Team; formal consultation on every PPE specification and procedure change; inspects storage, cleaning areas and zoning; reviews exposure trends annually; makes recommendations under its statutory role.

6.12 Facilities, fleet and procurement: zoning infrastructure and diesel capture; clean-cab apparatus; buying to specification without substitution.

• Protective Clothing and Equipment Program
• Decontamination and Contamination Control Program
• SWP - On-Scene Preliminary Exposure Reduction
• SWP - Post-Call Station Decontamination
• SWP - Bunker Gear Routine Inspection and Cleaning
• SWP - Bunker Gear Advanced Inspection
• SWP - Bunker Gear Advanced and Specialized Cleaning and Repair
• SWP - Bunker Gear Retirement and Records
• SWP - Exposure Reporting (owned by the cancer prevention and exposure tracking program)

8.1 Records created under this policy: per-garment records; issue and fit records; routine inspection cards; advanced inspection checksheets; cleaning and repair logs; extractor calibration records; verified provider certificates and batch records; retirement records; specifications, trial reports and JOHSC consultation records; decon logs; exposure reports; zoning audits; diesel capture maintenance records; training and competency records; corrective actions.

8.2 Records are held in {{Records system}} under 05 Document Control and Records. Per-garment records are retained for the life of the element plus the retention period set there. Exposure reports are health-related records: retained for the member’s service plus 30 years as the recommended minimum where the applicable law sets no longer period (J09 Records Retention); held with access limited to the member, the {{Health and Safety Officer}}, the department physician and those the member authorizes; disclosed to the workers’ compensation board on the member’s claim (J32 Workers' Compensation and Firefighter Presumptions).

8.3 Every record under this policy is written expecting disclosure under freedom-of-information law: roles, not names, in findings; no opinion about an individual’s conduct in a learning record. Learning-team write-ups name no individuals and are never placed in a personnel file.

8.4 A member may obtain the records for the gear issued to them and their own exposure history within 10 business days of asking.

9.1 To the {{Fire Chief}}: the quarterly program update and the annual appraisal, including the indicators, the corrective action status and the PFAS transition.

9.2 To the {{JOHSC}}: the quarterly update for information; every specification and procedure change for consultation; the annual exposure trend review; inspection findings; the count of member concerns and the answer rate.

9.3 To council or the governing body: in the annual health and safety report, the state of the two programs, the second-set and extractor investments, the station retrofit plan, and the exposure record match rate.

11.1 The applicable occupational health and safety statute and regulations, which differ by province and territory: the employer’s general duty (J02 Duties of Employers, Supervisors, Workers and Contractors); provision, maintenance and inspection of personal protective equipment, and the standards named for eye, face, head and foot protection (J13 Firefighter PPE and Protective Equipment); high-visibility apparel on roadways (J31 Roadway Incident Scenes); respiratory protection (J14 Respiratory Protection, Fit Testing and Breathing Air); exposure limits for airborne contaminants (J22 Exposure Limits, Heat and Cold Stress); WHMIS for cleaning agents (J21 WHMIS, Hazardous Materials and Asbestos); and the joint committee’s consultation role and the employer’s response clock (J05 Joint Committee and Health and Safety Representative; J06 Written Procedures and Committee Consultation). The retention of exposure records and the presumptive cancer provisions of workers’ compensation law are set out in J09 Records Retention and J32 Workers' Compensation and Firefighter Presumptions. The Jurisdiction requirements table at the end of this policy lists what to confirm for your province or territory.

11.2 NFPA 1550 ch. 9 (protective clothing and equipment), s. 12.5 (facility contamination zones) and ch. 16 (fireground toxic contaminants) (NFPA 1550, 2024); NFPA 1585 for fireground contamination control in facilities, vehicles, operations, PPE and equipment (NFPA 1585, 2025); NFPA 1850 for selection, care and maintenance of structural and proximity ensembles and SCBA (NFPA 1850, 2026); NFPA 1970 for the product standard, particulate-blocking hoods and restricted substances (NFPA 1970, 2025); NFPA 1950, NFPA 1955 and NFPA 1990 for the technical rescue, medical and wildland ensembles, the surface water and contaminated water ensembles, and the hazardous materials and CBRN ensembles (NFPA 1950, 2025; NFPA 1955, 2025; NFPA 1990, 2022); and NFPA 1857 for the care of technical rescue and wildland ensembles (NFPA 1857, 2026).

11.3 CSA Z94.1, CSA Z94.3, CSA Z195 and CSA Z96 for non-fire headwear, eye and face protection, footwear and high-visibility apparel (CSA Z94.1-15; CSA Z94.3:26; CSA Z195:14; CSA Z96:22); CAN/CGSB/CSA-Z1610 for CBRN responder PPE (CSA Z1610-11).

11.4 ISO 45001 operational controls and the hierarchy of controls (ISO 45001:2018, cl. 8.1); CSA Z45001, the Canadian adoption of ISO 45001, with its Amendment 1 of 2026 (CSA Z45001:19).

11.5 The accreditation criteria on equipment and PPE maintenance and on exposure reduction, near-miss reporting and exposure documentation (CPSE, 2019, criteria 6E.1 to 6E.5, 11A.4, 11A.6 to 11A.8).

12.1 This policy is reviewed 12 months after adoption and every three years after that, and sooner after any serious injury or exposure event involving protective equipment or decontamination, any change to the statutes, regulations or standards it relies on, any change of ensemble model, or on request of the {{JOHSC}}.

12.2 Review is led by the {{PPE Program Manager}} with the Program Improvement Team, consulted with the {{JOHSC}} and the bargaining agents, and approved by the {{Fire Chief}}.

Consult early, before the specification and before the procedures are drafted, and put the consultation in writing. The committee’s statutory role is to be consulted on changes that affect health and safety and to receive a written response to its recommendations within the time the applicable statute sets (J05 Joint Committee and Health and Safety Representative); a PPE change is the clearest case of that role.

Closing disclaimer. This model policy is general information prepared by The Human Factor for adaptation by the licensed department. It is not legal advice. Confirm every citation and consult counsel and the bargaining agents before adoption. End of model policy.

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.