Respiratory Protection Program

This program is the written, auditable system that keeps every member’s lungs out of the smoke, the fire gases, the dust and the pathogens the work produces, and keeps every member who goes into a hazardous atmosphere coming back out with air to spare. When it is working, every member who wears a tight-fitting respirator has a current fit test and a current medical clearance; every SCBA on an apparatus was checked at the start of the duty period and after its last use; every cylinder is within its test date and filled with air that was proven clean; every crew enters a hazardous atmosphere together, with a crew outside ready to get them, and leaves before the low-air alarm sounds; nobody takes a facepiece off inside a structure during overhaul; and every low-air alarm inside a hazard area, every mayday and every respirator failure is reported, reviewed and fed back to the people who wear the equipment. The program is owned by a line officer through the Respiratory Protection Program Improvement Team, verified by the health and safety officer, and consulted on by the JOHSC.

This module is switched on for every department. It answers Program Profile Worksheet Part C question 1 (01 Program Profile Worksheet): members wear SCBA, air-purifying respirators or filtering facepieces for any task. A department with no breathing air compressor still needs the breathing air element (it buys air or fills elsewhere, and must prove that air is clean). A department that does no wildland or hazmat work switches off the wildland and CBRN sub-elements in section 5.11 and records the decision in the Profile Worksheet.

Terms used in this note, consistent with 06 Glossary and Acronyms.

• Assigned protection factor (APF): the workplace level of respiratory protection a properly functioning, fitted respirator class is expected to provide, used to match the respirator to the hazard concentration (CSA Z94.4-18, cl. 7).
• Breathing air: compressed air for respiratory protection that meets the purity limits of CSA Z180.1:19.
• End-of-service-time indicator (EOSTI): the SCBA low-air alarm; set at 33 percent of rated service time under NFPA 1970 (2025).
• Fit test: a qualitative or quantitative test of the seal between a specific tight-fitting respirator and a specific person’s face (CSA Z94.4-18, cl. 9).
• Immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH): an atmosphere that poses an immediate threat to life, would cause irreversible adverse health effects, or would impair a person’s ability to escape; this program treats any unknown atmosphere as IDLH.
• Learning firewall: the rule that information gathered for learning (near-miss reports, after-action reviews, learning teams, post-incident analyses) is never used as the basis for discipline; conduct concerns go to a separate process run by different people (Incident Investigation and Learning Program).
• Personal alert safety system (PASS): the motion-sensing alarm integrated with the SCBA that sounds when a member is motionless or activates it manually (NFPA 1970, 2025).
• Program administrator: the person appointed in writing with the authority to run the respiratory protection program (CSA Z94.4-18, cl. 5).
• Psychological safety: the shared belief in a crew or workplace that it is safe to speak up, ask, admit error and challenge (Edmondson, 1999)DOI.
• Rapid intervention crew (RIC or RIT): at least two equipped members assigned outside the hazard area to rescue members inside (NFPA 1550, 2024, s. 10.8).
• Rule of Air Management: know how much air you have in your SCBA and manage it so that you leave the hazardous environment before your low-air alarm activates (NFPA 1404, 2018, s. 5.1.4.2).
• Work-as-done: how a task is actually performed under real conditions, as distinct from work-as-imagined in a written procedure (Hollnagel, 2014).

Some jurisdictions adopt CSA Z94.4 and CSA Z180.1 by reference as the “latest version”, with a grace period after a new edition issues (J14 Respiratory Protection, Fit Testing and Breathing Air). The program therefore names those standards without an edition in the department’s own procedures and keeps an edition watch (element 5.2). Full standards citations are in 02 Standards and Law Master Map; each jurisdiction’s rules are on the topic pages listed under Jurisdiction requirements.

R = responsible, A = accountable (one per row), C = consulted, I = informed. Generic roles are defined in 01 Roles and Responsibilities; the Program Improvement Team roles are in 06 Program Improvement Teams.

Each element states the requirement, the minimum method, the evidence or record, and the stage.

Requirement. The department must have this program in writing, approved by the fire chief, consulted on with the JOHSC, and reviewed within 12 months of adoption and at least every three years after that. A program administrator with the authority to stop respirator use, remove equipment from service and direct training must be appointed in writing. (S1)

Minimum method. Adopt this note and Policy - Respiratory Protection; complete the placeholders; file the JOHSC consultation record; appoint the administrator by memo; list the program in the document register (05 Document Control and Records).

Evidence. Signed program; revision log; administrator appointment; JOHSC minutes.

Requirement. Because some jurisdictions adopt CSA Z94.4 and CSA Z180.1 as the latest version, with a grace period for a new edition (J14 Respiratory Protection, Fit Testing and Breathing Air), the department must know when a new edition issues and bring the program into line within that period; this program applies the same rule wherever it is adopted. NFPA 1550, 1970, 1850 and 1400 are adopted by this program on the same basis. (S1)

Minimum method. The program administrator checks the CSA, NFPA and NIOSH notice pages quarterly, records the check in the quarterly update, and logs any new edition as a corrective action with a review due date inside the grace period. NIOSH conformity assessment notices are checked for rescinded approvals that touch the fleet (NIOSH, 2026a).

Evidence. Quarterly update line “editions checked, date, result”; corrective actions for edition changes.

Requirement. A written respiratory hazard assessment must cover every task in which a member may breathe a contaminant, an oxygen-deficient atmosphere or a pathogen, must identify the contaminants, their likely concentrations against the adopted exposure limits, oxygen deficiency, whether the atmosphere is or may be IDLH, the duration and the work rate, and must be reviewed on any change in task, equipment or evidence. (S1)

Minimum method. Complete toolkit T2 for each task line; use the seed values there; attach exposure monitoring data as it accumulates; review annually with the team’s appraisal and after any exposure event.

Evidence. Completed T2; monitoring data; review dates.

Requirement. A competent person must select the respirator for each hazard class using the assigned protection factor logic of CSA Z94.4-18. Only NIOSH-approved respirators may be used; SCBA for structural firefighting must also be certified to NFPA 1970 (2025). IDLH, potentially IDLH, oxygen-deficient and unknown atmospheres get pressure-demand SCBA, or supplied air with an escape cylinder under a written task plan, and nothing else. The department must keep a fleet approval register listing every SCBA configuration, facepiece, cylinder, air-purifying respirator and filtering facepiece with its NIOSH approval number and NFPA certification, reconciled to the NIOSH Certified Equipment List at acceptance, after any NIOSH rescission notice, and at least annually. Component substitution that voids an approval is prohibited. (S1)

Minimum method. Use toolkit T3 to record the selection per task line. Procurement specifications must require NIOSH approval and NFPA 1970 (2025) certification on the label, EOSTI at 33 percent, UEBSS, heads-up display, integrated PASS, rapid intervention universal air connection, and the CBRN option where the hazmat module is on. Acceptance test every new unit before service (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 15). Keep a written contingency for an approval rescission: manufacturer letter, continued-use risk assessment, replacement plan.

Evidence. T3; fleet approval register; procurement specification; acceptance test reports; CEL reconciliation record.

Requirement. No member may be fit tested or wear a tight-fitting respirator until an occupational health provider has confirmed the member is medically able to wear it. Screening uses the CSA Z94.4-18 Annex E questionnaire or the provider’s equivalent, reviewed by the provider; a medical assessment follows where the screening raises a concern. Clearance is repeated on the provider’s schedule (at least with each periodic medical under Medical, Fitness and Wellness Program) and whenever a member reports a change in breathing, heart or lung condition, a significant weight change, or difficulty wearing the respirator. The department receives only the outcome (fit, fit with restriction, not fit) and any restriction; it never receives the diagnosis. (S1)

Minimum method. Toolkit T5 workflow with Form - Respirator Medical Clearance Request. The program administrator keeps the clearance status list; the provider keeps the medical file.

Evidence. Clearance status list; signed clearance outcomes; re-screen triggers acted on.

Requirement. Every tight-fitting respirator a member may be issued must be fit tested on that member before first use, after any change that could affect fit (make, model or size; weight change of about 10 percent; dental or facial surgery; scarring; discomfort or failed seal checks; a change in interfacing PPE), and on a fixed interval. This program fit-tests every SCBA user every year by quantitative method; some jurisdictions require exactly that by regulation, and others set a longer maximum (J14 Respiratory Protection, Fit Testing and Breathing Air). Every other tight-fitting respirator is fit tested every 12 months by policy (CSA Z94.4-18 allows up to two years; the program uses one interval for everything so nothing is missed). Fit tests are done with the hood, helmet, eyewear inserts and radio strap the member wears at work. No member with hair between the sealing surface and the face may wear a tight-fitting respirator; the only alternative for a member who cannot shave is a loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirator for non-IDLH tasks and reassignment away from IDLH work. (S1)

Minimum method. SWP - Respirator Fit Testing; Form - Fit Test Record; the fit-test register with next-due dates; supervisor spot checks of facial hair at the start of duty periods, recorded on the daily SCBA check sheet.

Evidence. Fit-test register at 100 percent currency; tester competency records; instrument calibration records; spot-check entries.

Requirement. Members must be trained before first use and annually after that; officers must be trained in air management supervision; technicians must hold current manufacturer authorization; fit testers must be competent in the method they use; fill station operators must be trained. (S1) Full content in section 6.

Requirement. The department must have a written air management procedure that every member is trained on and drilled in. Its core is the Rule of Air Management: know how much air you have and manage it so that you leave the hazardous environment before your low-air alarm activates. The procedure must require a full cylinder at entry, gauge checks at benchmarks and on every status report, work cycles with crew rotation, longer-duration cylinders for large or complex structures by risk assessment, and must treat the low-air alarm inside a hazard area as an immediate action item for the individual and the team. Every low-air alarm inside a hazard area is reported as a near miss. (S1)

Minimum method. SWP - SCBA Donning, Use and Air Management; toolkit T8; individual consumption rate drill at recruit training and at least every three years; air benchmarks written into the accountability procedure.

Evidence. SWP in force; consumption profiles on file; radio logs showing benchmark and PAR traffic; near-miss reports.

Requirement. No member may enter an IDLH or potentially IDLH atmosphere alone. At least two members enter together and remain in contact; at least two members remain outside, equipped and ready to rescue, one of whom may be the incident commander or pump operator only during the initial stage. As the incident grows, a dedicated rapid intervention crew is assigned and not given tasks that consume its air. A personnel accountability system with personnel accountability reports at set intervals and benchmark events is in use at every incident where members enter a hazard area. The PASS is worn, armed and tested on every entry. The sole exception for entry before the outside crew is in place is a known, imminent life-threatening situation where immediate action may prevent loss of life, with the incident commander’s decision recorded. (S1)

Minimum method. These controls live in Emergency Operations Safety Program and its SWPs (SWP - Two-In Two-Out and Rapid Intervention, SWP - Accountability and Personnel Accountability Reports, SWP - Mayday). This program owns the link: toolkit T9 states what the respiratory program needs from them and who checks it.

Evidence. Incident accountability records; RIT assignment logs; safety officer observations; PASS function checks on the daily sheet.

Requirement. SCBA must be worn for all interior overhaul and for any task in a structure where products of combustion may be present, regardless of carbon monoxide or hydrogen cyanide readings and regardless of visible smoke, because measured overhaul exposures exceed limits for several contaminants without visible smoke and the carbon monoxide reading does not predict them (Bolstad-Johnson et al., 2000DOI; IAFF, n.d.-b). The facepiece may be removed inside only when the incident commander has decided, on the basis of multi-gas monitoring including HCN and the absence of visible smoke, off-gassing or odour, that the atmosphere is safe, and that decision is logged with the readings. Readings are used to decide when an air-purifying respirator may be used for exterior or secondary tasks, to protect investigators and support staff, and to document exposures. (S1)

Minimum method. Every front-line apparatus carries a bump-tested multi-gas monitor with an HCN sensor; bump test daily or before use; calibrate at intervals of 30 days or less and after a high exposure; sample for 20 seconds to two minutes per location at knee, waist and overhead height; monitor the rehab and decontamination areas; keep records; run a sensor replacement program (MLITSD, n.d., Guidance Note 6-51). Program action levels are in toolkit T2 (seed values: CO 35 ppm, HCN 4.7 ppm, oxygen outside 19.5 to 23.5 percent, LEL 10 percent, each checked against the exposure limits the applicable regulation adopts: J22 Exposure Limits, Heat and Cold Stress) (MLITSD, n.d., Guidance Note 6-36).

Evidence. Overhaul decisions logged with readings; monitor bump and calibration records; exposure reports for every fire with products of combustion (SWP - Exposure Reporting).

Requirement. Each other respirator type may be used only within the task limits set by the hazard assessment and the selection table (toolkit T3). Supplied-air respirators need an escape cylinder and a written task plan. Full-facepiece air-purifying respirators with P100 and organic vapour and acid gas cartridges are limited to exterior or secondary tasks when continuous monitoring is below the action levels, oxygen is at or above 19.5 percent, there is no visible smoke or off-gassing, and the member is fit tested on that facepiece. Wildland air-purifying respirators certified to NFPA 1984 (2022) are used by risk assessment, with carbon monoxide monitoring and rotation, because they give no CO protection. Filtering facepieces for medical calls are NIOSH N95 (or a CSA-certified equivalent when CSA Z94.4-18 is revised), fit tested, with a seal check on every use and written extended-use and reuse rules; a powered air-purifying respirator is provided for aerosol-generating procedures and for members who cannot wear a tight-fitting facepiece. Tactical SCBA to NFPA 1986 (2023) and combination unit respirators to NFPA 1987 (2023) are never used for structural firefighting, and a combination unit may not be used at all until NIOSH approves the class. (S1 for structural and medical; S2 for wildland and tactical sub-elements where the modules are on)

Minimum method. Stock two or more models and a range of sizes of each respirator type; include every model and size in the fit-test register; write the APR task card into the overhaul and investigation procedures.

Evidence. T3; fit-test register entries for every model; stock records; task plans for supplied-air use.

Requirement. Assigned SCBA are inspected by the user at the start of each duty period and after each use; unassigned and spare units at least weekly and after each use; the RIT pack and spare cylinders monthly. Every SCBA is flow tested on a calibrated breathing machine at least annually, before first use and after any repair or rebuild, by a manufacturer-authorized technician, with facepiece and regulator leak tests and PASS and EOSTI function tests. Cleaning follows the contamination level: preliminary exposure reduction on scene, routine cleaning after every use, advanced cleaning and disinfection after heavy contamination, specialized cleaning after hazmat exposure. Contaminated SCBA are bagged and never carried in the cab. Repairs use manufacturer parts only. SCBA are retired at 15 years from manufacture unless manufacturer upgrades bring them to the required edition, and in no case later than about 20 years (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 17); retired units are rendered unusable. A unit with any defect is tagged out, secured and reported the same day. (S1)

Minimum method. SWP - SCBA Daily and After-Use Inspection and Cleaning; Form - SCBA Inspection and Maintenance Log; the interval table in section 7 and toolkit T6; technician authorization records; the adverse-condition procedure in element 5.16.

Evidence. Inspection logs with no gaps over any sampled 90 days; flow-test reports for 100 percent of the fleet; cleaning records for every working fire; repair and retirement records.

Requirement. All breathing air, whether compressed on site, delivered by a mobile unit or purchased, must meet CSA Z180.1:19, shown by an accredited laboratory’s test at commissioning, after any major overhaul, extensive repair or filter change, and at least every six months; the department tests quarterly, which also satisfies NFPA 1989 (2019). Compressor intakes must be sited away from exhaust and contaminant sources; oil-lubricated compressors must have a continuous CO monitor with alarm and shutdown and a high-temperature shutdown; fill stations must have an enclosure that contains a cylinder failure; cascade cylinders must be in the cylinder register and fitted with connections that cannot mate with non-breathing gases; purchased air must come with a certificate of analysis. Only trained operators fill cylinders. (S1)

Minimum method. SWP - Breathing Air Fill Station and Cylinder Handling; Form - Breathing Air Quality Test Record; toolkit T7.

Evidence. Laboratory certificates on the schedule with all parameters within limits; compressor hours and maintenance log; CO monitor calibration; fill logs; supplier certificates.

Requirement. Every cylinder, including cascade and RIT cylinders, is in a register with its serial number, specification or permit, manufacture date, last and next hydrostatic test, service-life end date, visual inspection status and assignment. Cylinders are visually inspected before every fill and after every use; hydrostatic requalification follows the interval for the specification (five years for aluminum, steel and current composite cylinders); composite cylinders are condemned at the end of their marked service life (15 years from manufacture for most fire service composite cylinders, a limit that originates in the transport rules and permits under which they are made (PHMSA, n.d.)); cylinders unused for 12 months are depressurized and refilled; condemned cylinders are rendered unusable and segregated. (S1)

Minimum method. Register fields in toolkit T6; SWP - Breathing Air Fill Station and Cylinder Handling; hydrostatic testing only at a Transport Canada registered facility.

Evidence. Register at 100 percent within interval and life; test certificates; condemnation records.

Requirement. SCBA and facepieces are part of the contamination control chain. Preliminary exposure reduction on scene, bagging, clean-cab transport and station cleaning follow Decontamination and Contamination Control Program and NFPA 1850 (2026, ch. 16) and NFPA 1585 (2025). The facepiece comes off last, after the hood and gloves are managed per the decontamination SWP, and goes into a bag. (S1)

Evidence. Post-fire cleaning records that include SCBA; station clean and dirty zoning observed.

Requirement. Any SCBA, facepiece, cylinder or monitor that fails, leaks, alarms falsely or behaves unexpectedly is removed from service immediately, tagged, secured with chain of custody, and reported the same day. Every low-air alarm inside a hazard area, every mayday, every PASS activation in earnest, every facepiece breach and every buddy-breathing event is reported as a near miss within the shift and reviewed through the learning system (Incident Investigation and Learning Program). The learning firewall applies: these reports are for learning and are never the basis for discipline. (S1)

Evidence. Adverse-condition reports; near-miss reports; learning review outputs; corrective actions.

Requirement. Every member must have a route to raise a respiratory protection concern (a facepiece that does not seal, a cylinder that reads low, a unit that is overdue, an overhaul where facepieces came off, a partner’s facial hair, a training evolution that felt unsafe) and must get an answer. (S1)

Minimum method. The member tells the company officer, or goes directly to the team lead, the program administrator, the HSO or the JOHSC worker member if they prefer; the officer records it on the daily sheet or a near-miss report the same day; the program administrator replies to the member in writing within five working days with what was done or what is being done and when; unresolved items go to the Corrective Action Register with the member’s name on the “inform” line so closure reaches them. Nobody who raises a concern in good faith is questioned about having raised it.

Evidence. Reply log kept by the administrator; corrective actions showing the reporter informed; survey item in section 10.

Requirement. The records listed in section 9 are kept in {{Records system}}. Fit-test, medical clearance outcome and exposure-linked records bear on exposure and health, so they are retained for the duration of the member’s service plus 30 years, the period the Occupational Cancer Prevention, Exposure Tracking and Screening Program and the Medical, Fitness and Wellness Program adopt, or longer where the applicable rules set a longer period (J09 Records Retention). Training records are retained for the duration of service plus 10 years; equipment records for the life of the equipment plus three years. Medical records are held by the occupational health provider, separate from personnel files. (S1)

Requirement. The program administrator and the HSO evaluate the program at least annually with the JOHSC, by observation of use at incidents and training, interviews with members, record review and review of near misses and adverse-condition reports, and record corrective actions in the Corrective Action Register. The internal audit uses Checklist - Respiratory Protection. An independent review happens at least every three years. (S2; the annual evaluation is S1 in a reduced form: record review and one observed training evolution)

The equipment in this program is good. The reason firefighters still die inside with empty cylinders is not usually the equipment (NIOSH, n.d.-b). It is the gap between how air management is written and how it is done when the fire is winning, the crew is tired and the officer’s attention is split: the gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done (Hollnagel, 2014). This section is how the program closes that gap, and it is as binding as the elements above.

Before any respiratory procedure in this program is written or changed, the Respiratory Protection team runs a learning-team session (06 Program Improvement Teams section 5; Conklin, 2012) with the members who do the task and asks them to describe, without judgment: when a crew really checks the gauge and when it does not, and what makes the difference; what pressure crews actually leave at, and what pushes them past it (a victim, a hoseline that is working, an officer who has not called them out); how the door check happens on a real first-due fire with a short crew; when facepieces actually come off during overhaul and who decides; how the daily check is really done at 0700 with three calls stacked, and which lines on the sheet get initialled without being done; how facial hair is handled between friends on a crew; what the fill station operator does when the enclosure is awkward or the compressor is slow; what volunteers do with an SCBA that nobody has touched for three weeks. The procedure the team writes must describe the task as it is done safely by the crews who do it well, with the adaptations named and either adopted or designed out.

What makes this work go right most of the time: crews that know their own consumption numbers; officers who set an exit pressure at the door and say it out loud; a working accountability board; full cylinders on every apparatus; monitors that are bump-tested and in reach; spare facepieces of every size at every station; a technician who answers the phone. What erodes it: short staffing that puts the officer on a tool instead of on the crew’s air; long travel routes to the fire; back-to-back calls that leave cylinders at 80 percent; fatigue late in a shift; cold weather that stiffens valves and fogs lenses; a fill station that is slow enough that crews skip the top-off; a culture where the alarm is the signal to leave. The program protects capacity by funding spare cylinders and facepieces before it funds anything else, by writing the exit pressure into the accountability procedure so it is not a judgment call under stress, by making the consumption drill a three-year rhythm rather than a one-time event, by putting a monitor with HCN on every first-due apparatus rather than one per station, and by treating a depleted margin (a crew that entered on a partial cylinder, an overhaul with no monitor) as a near miss to learn from, not a rule to enforce.

Errors, adaptations and workarounds in respiratory protection are the material this program learns from. A member who reports entering on a partial cylinder, a crew that worked to the alarm, an officer who let facepieces come off before the monitor arrived, a daily sheet signed without the check: these are reported, described in a learning team, and answered with changes to conditions, procedures and training. The learning firewall applies: information given in a near-miss report, an after-action review, a learning team or a post-incident analysis is never the basis for discipline. Conduct concerns (knowingly entering without a fit test, deliberately disabling a PASS, falsifying a flow-test record, working impaired) are a separate matter, handled through a separate process run by different people, and the learning review hands them over without using its own material to make the case. Nobody is disciplined for an honest error in this program; everyone is accountable for reporting it (Dekker, 2016).

Psychological safety is the shared belief that it is safe to speak up, ask, admit error and challenge (Edmondson, 1999)DOI; in this program it is the difference between a low-air alarm that is reported and one that is quietly reset. Any member may stop any respiratory task, at any time, by saying the hazard and the action: “Stop, my alarm is going, we are leaving.” “Stop, your mask is off, the monitor is not here yet.” “Hold the fill, that cylinder is out of date.” The officer’s job is to acknowledge (“Heard, leaving now”), act, and review it later for learning, never to argue in the moment. A member may challenge an incident commander’s decision to allow facepieces off during overhaul, and the commander must either show the readings or put the masks back on. Leaders show it is safe by thanking the reporter in front of the crew, by replying within five working days (element 5.16a), by sharing near misses at monthly training with no names, by never asking “who” before “what happened”, and by counting stop-work calls as a sign the program is working. The quarterly update reports how many concerns were raised, how many got an answer on time, and whether members say they can raise one.

This program feeds all three After the Call tiers (Incident Investigation and Learning Program; full method in Manual 02 - The Three Tiers and Event Triage). Tier 1 After-Action Review: every working fire, every live fire evolution, every SCBA drill, every adverse-condition report, every good catch. Tier 2 Post-Incident Analysis: any low-air alarm inside a hazard area, any mayday, any buddy-breathing event, any facepiece breach, any out-of-limit air test, any PASS activation in earnest, any entry found afterward to have been made without two-in/two-out. Tier 3 Independent Learning Review: any respiratory-related death or critical injury, or a Tier 2 event that recurs after recommendations. The AAR questions a crew asks after any SCBA task: What pressure did we enter with, what did we leave at, and would we do the same again? When did the first facepiece come off, who decided, and what did we know at that moment? What nearly caught us, and what do we want the next crew to know?

• SWP - SCBA Donning, Use and Air Management
• SWP - SCBA Daily and After-Use Inspection and Cleaning
• SWP - Respirator Fit Testing
• SWP - Breathing Air Fill Station and Cylinder Handling

Procedures this program depends on but does not own: SWP - Two-In Two-Out and Rapid Intervention, SWP - Mayday, SWP - Accountability and Personnel Accountability Reports (Emergency Operations Safety); SWP - On-Scene Preliminary Exposure Reduction, SWP - Post-Call Station Decontamination, SWP - Exposure Reporting (Decontamination and Contamination Control).

The first eight rows measure whether the program is being run; the next four measure whether it is working; the last three measure whether people will tell you when it is not. A department with perfect currency figures and zero near-miss reports has a reporting problem, not a safe program.

Loop test. A member at a volunteer station reports on Monday that their facepiece exhalation valve stuck during a training burn. By end of day the facepiece is tagged out and a spare of the right size is issued. By Friday the adverse-condition report is in the register with the technician as owner, the member has had a reply, and the technician has checked whether the same valve batch is on other facepieces. Within the quarter the cause is known, every affected facepiece has been serviced, a change notice has gone to every station, and the item is closed with evidence and reported in the quarterly update and to the JOHSC.

Audit category: Checklist - Respiratory Protection. The five questions an auditor asks first:

1. Show me the fit-test register. Who may enter an IDLH today who is not on it?
2. Pick three SCBA on three apparatus. Show me the last seven daily sheets and the last flow test for each.
3. Show me the last four breathing air certificates and the cylinder register. Is anything out of date?
4. Show me the last three working fires. Where are the overhaul monitoring readings, the facepiece-removal decision, and the exposure reports?
5. Show me the last low-air alarm inside a hazard area. Who reviewed it, what changed, and who was told?

Accreditation crosswalk. An accredited or candidate department can use this program’s audit evidence directly for the safety and equipment criteria: the administrator appointment and the written program (CPSE, 2019, criterion 11A.1); the concern route and adverse-condition reporting (11A.2); the hazard assessment and corrective actions (11A.3); the training and competency table (CC 11A.5); the near-miss rule for low-air alarms and the learning link (11A.6); the contamination control link and exposure reports (11A.4, 11A.9, 11A.10); the two-in/two-out, RIT and accountability link (11A.8, 11A.12); and the fleet approval register, inspection logs, flow tests, cylinder register and five-year budget lines (CC 6F.1 to 6F.5) (CPSE, 2019). The annual program appraisal in 06 Program Improvement Teams is written to the same criteria.

Fatality investigations of firefighters who ran out of air tell the same story in different buildings (NIOSH, 2011, F2010-16; NIOSH, n.d.-b): entry with a cylinder already partly used by exterior work and no gauge check at the door; working until the low-air alarm and then trying to leave by a long or unfamiliar route; disorientation after the alarm; a facepiece removed inside to smell for fire or because the fire looked out; a PASS not armed or not manually activated; a mayday not called, called on the wrong channel or not heard; crews separated after a sudden change in conditions; no rapid intervention crew in place, or one that had been given other work; a partner with no air to share. Behind these sit training gaps: members who had never felt the time from alarm to empty, no written air management procedure, infrequent mayday drills, large commercial buildings never pre-planned. The investigators’ recurring recommendations are the Rule of Air Management, consumption drills, a written air management procedure, SCBA through overhaul, PASS and mayday competence, a rapid intervention crew before interior work, and accountability with PAR (NIOSH, 2011, F2010-16).

Overhaul evidence is equally plain. In a study of 25 structure fires, measured exposures during overhaul exceeded limits for formaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with no visible smoke, and the initial carbon monoxide reading did not predict any of the other contaminants (Bolstad-Johnson et al., 2000)DOI; hydrogen cyanide from ordinary residential fuels can exceed its ceiling limit many times over (MLITSD, n.d., Guidance Note 6-36). This program answers both bodies of evidence with the Rule of Air Management, consumption rate drills, benchmark gauge checks, the facepiece-on rule for interior overhaul, HCN monitoring, the two-in/two-out and RIT link, and the near-miss rule for every low-air alarm inside a hazard area.

Stage 1 (Foundation) minimum. This program adopted and signed; administrator appointed; hazard assessment T2 completed; selection T3 completed; 100 percent of IDLH-entry members fit tested and medically cleared before entry; daily and weekly inspections running with sheets; annual flow test and cylinder requalification current; breathing air certificates on the six-month minimum; air management SWP in force and the consumption drill done once for every member; two-in/two-out and PASS rules enforced; facepiece-on rule for interior overhaul in force with one monitor with HCN per first-due apparatus; adverse-condition and near-miss reporting live; corrective actions in the register.

Cost (people). Program administrator about one day a week in a department of 20 to 30 SCBA, scaling with fleet size; one or two trained fit testers at about 30 minutes per member per year; a technician (in house or contracted) for annual flow tests at roughly 45 minutes per unit; instructor time for the annual proficiency evaluation at about 30 minutes per member; member time for the consumption drill (two hours once, then every three years).

Cost (money, order of magnitude; confirm locally). Quantitative fit test instrument purchase or annual rental; breathing machine access (contracted at a per-unit fee, or purchased for a large fleet); laboratory air tests per compressor per quarter; HCN-capable multi-gas monitor per first-due apparatus plus calibration gas; spare facepieces in each size per station; cylinder requalification per cylinder on the five-year cycle; replacement of any cylinder past its service life and any SCBA past 15 years without upgrade. The last two are usually the real Stage 1 cost; put them on the team’s five-year budget worksheet (06 Program Improvement Teams section 11) in year one.

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.

Tick each row when the item is in place and record where the evidence lives. The elements are those of CSA Z94.4-18 as summarized in Canadian regulator guidance (WorkplaceNL, 2023); clause numbers are to be verified against the standard. This is the administrator’s own completeness check; the auditor uses Checklist - Respiratory Protection.

Fleet approval register fields. Respirator type; manufacturer; model and configuration; NIOSH approval (TC) number; NFPA standard and edition certified to; certification body; CBRN option (yes or no); facepiece models and sizes approved with it; cylinder models approved with it; date accepted into service; acceptance test reference; date last reconciled to the NIOSH Certified Equipment List; rescission notices checked (date); status.

Complete one row per task line the department performs. Seed values are given; replace them with the department’s own monitoring data as it accumulates. Exposure limits are those the applicable regulation adopts (J22 Exposure Limits, Heat and Cold Stress); the seed action levels are the commonly used fire service values drawn from the NIOSH and ACGIH reference limits as summarized in Ontario’s fire gases and air monitoring guidance (MLITSD, n.d., Guidance Notes 6-36 and 6-51); confirm them before use.

Assigned protection factors are from CSA Z94.4-18.

The record is Form - Fit Test Record. The fields follow the CSA Z94.4 fit-test records annex as reflected in Canadian regulator guidance (CCOHS, n.d.-b; CSA Z94.4-18; WorkplaceNL, 2023). Every record carries: date; member identifier and station; tester name and competency record reference; respirator type, make, model and size (one record per make, model and size the member may be issued); test type (qualitative agent or quantitative instrument), protocol and exercises; pass criterion (fit factor 100 or more for half-facepiece, 500 or more for full-facepiece and SCBA by quantitative method); measured fit factor per exercise and overall; interfacing PPE worn (helmet, hood, eyewear insert, radio strap); observations (facial hair, eyewear, dentures, scars, jewellery, cosmetics); medical clearance confirmed before the test; training confirmed before the test; seal check competence demonstrated; comfort assessment; failed attempts and their cause; quantitative instrument make, model, daily check and calibration date; next due date; signatures of tester and member.

1. Trigger. New member before recruit SCBA training; any member before a fit test with no clearance inside the provider’s interval; any member who reports a change (breathing difficulty, cardiac or respiratory diagnosis, significant weight change, pregnancy where the member chooses to disclose, new medication affecting exertion); any member returning from a respiratory or cardiac illness; any member a supervisor or fit tester refers because of observed difficulty.
2. Request. The program administrator sends Form - Respirator Medical Clearance Request part A (respirator types, task demands, PPE weight and heat load, work rates, duration) to the occupational health provider and the member. The member completes the screening questionnaire (CSA Z94.4-18 Annex E or the provider’s equivalent) directly with the provider, never through the department.
3. Assessment. The provider reviews the questionnaire and, where it flags a concern, examines the member or orders tests (spirometry, exercise tolerance) at the provider’s discretion and the department’s cost.
4. Outcome. The provider returns part B only: fit; fit with restriction (stated in task terms, for example “no SCBA use; may wear PAPR for non-IDLH tasks”); not fit; and the re-evaluation date. No diagnosis is sent.
5. Record and act. The administrator updates the clearance status list, tells the member’s supervisor only the outcome and restriction, and books the fit test if the outcome is fit. A member who is not fit or restricted is assigned accordingly the same day, and referred to Medical, Fitness and Wellness Program for return-to-duty support.
6. Re-evaluation. On the provider’s date, with each periodic medical, and on any trigger in step 1.
7. Privacy. The questionnaire and medical file stay with the provider. The department’s record is the outcome, the restriction and the dates. Disclosure follows Policy - Records, Privacy and Health Information.

Cylinder register fields. Serial; manufacturer; specification or permit number; manufacture date; rated pressure and duration; last hydrostatic test date and facility; next hydrostatic test due; service-life end date; last visual inspection date and result; fill log reference; assignment (apparatus, pack, spare, RIT, cascade); status (in service, quarantined, condemned); damage or chemical exposure events.

The Rule of Air Management. Know how much air you have in your SCBA and manage that air so that you leave the hazardous environment before your low-air alarm activates (NFPA 1404, 2018, s. 5.1.4.2). The thirds below follow the way NFPA 1970 frames the air supply: work, exit, emergency reserve (NFPA 1970, 2025).

How the department applies it.

1. Enter with a full cylinder. A cylinder below 90 percent of rated pressure is swapped before entry.
2. Check the gauge at the door and tell your partner the reading. The officer records the entry time and pressure for the crew.
3. Plan the air in thirds: one third to work, one third to get out, one third in reserve for an emergency. The low-air alarm marks the start of the reserve, not the signal to leave.
4. Check the gauge at every benchmark (arrival at the work area, each change of task or floor, every personnel accountability report) and report the crew’s lowest reading on every status report.
5. Begin the exit when the lowest member’s gauge reaches the exit pressure the officer set at entry, which is never lower than half of the rated pressure for a route of more than one floor or 30 metres, and earlier for long or unfamiliar routes.
6. Crews enter together, stay together and leave together. The lowest reading governs the crew.
7. If a low-air alarm sounds inside the hazard area: the whole crew stops work and exits immediately by the known route; the officer tells command; command confirms the crew’s exit or starts rapid intervention. The event is reported as a near miss within the shift.
8. Work cycles: for a sustained task, plan three crews (deployed, standby, rehab) and rotate; a member goes to rehab after two cylinders or as the rehab SWP requires.
9. Large or complex structures: longer-duration cylinders, search rope or hose line as the route, and shorter exit pressure thresholds, decided at size-up.
10. Nobody takes a facepiece off inside a structure until the incident commander has decided by monitoring that the atmosphere is safe (element 5.10).

Keep one per member in the training record. The officer or instructor initials and dates each line; the member signs the whole.

Completed by the team lead within 15 days of quarter end; goes to the program manager, the senior leadership team and the JOHSC.

The table in section 11 is the program’s accountability loop. Copy it into the team’s terms of reference (06 Program Improvement Teams section 12) with the department’s titles substituted from the mapping table in 01 Roles and Responsibilities section 6. The defaults, in one line each:

• Owner: program manager, Respiratory Protection team (line district chief).
• Doer: members, company officers, program administrator, technicians, fill station operators, fit testers, occupational health provider, training division.
• Verifier: company officer daily; station officer weekly and monthly; HSO quarterly sample and incident observation; JOHSC inspections; internal audit annually; independent review every three years.
• Feedback: quarterly update inside 15 days; reply to the reporter inside five working days; change notices with every change.
• Closure: Corrective Action Register inside five working days, each item rated P1 to P4 on the one priority scale, which sets its due dates and escalation; evidence and verifier sign-off to close; monthly to the JOHSC, annually to the fire chief.

The Stage 1 minimum and the cost note are in section 14. For budgeting, transfer these lines to the team’s five-year worksheet: quantitative fit-test instrument; breathing machine access; laboratory air tests; HCN-capable monitors and calibration gas; spare facepieces; cylinder requalification; cylinder and SCBA replacement at end of life; technician and fit tester training; member time for the consumption drill and annual evaluation.

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists [ACGIH]. (n.d.). Threshold limit values for chemical substances and physical agents and biological exposure indices (current edition).

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety [CCOHS]. (n.d.-b). Respirator fit testing (OSH Answers). https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/ppe/respirator-respirator-fit-testing.html

International Association of Fire Fighters [IAFF]. (n.d.-b). SCBA through overhaul. https://www.iaff.org/wp-content/uploads/FFCancer_SCBAthroughOverhaul.pdf

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH]. (n.d.-b). Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program [Program website and investigation reports]. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firefighters/fffipp/index.html

Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development [MLITSD]. (n.d.). Firefighter guidance notes (Section 21 Advisory Committee; individual notes revised to 2026). https://www.ontario.ca/document/firefighter-guidance-notes

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [PHMSA]. (n.d.). Navy self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) composite cylinder life extension research project. https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/technical-resources/55976/navy-self-contained-breathing-apparatus-scba-composite-cylinder-life-extension-research-project.pdf