SWP - Bunker Gear Advanced and Specialized Cleaning and Repair

Advanced cleaning is the thorough machine cleaning of structural and proximity ensemble elements in a dedicated extractor, by a trained PPE technician or a {{Verified ISP}}. It is required after every exposure to products of combustion, after any exposure routine cleaning did not resolve, and on a schedule: at least every 12 months as the standard’s minimum, with this system’s default of every six months for front-line gear (Protective Clothing and Equipment Program element 5.8). Specialized cleaning is the method chosen for a hazardous material, biological or unknown contaminant. Repair is the restoration of an element within the standard’s limits by the manufacturer, a {{Verified ISP}} or a trained technician using the manufacturer’s materials (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6 and 8). (S1)

• Contaminants on the gear and in the wash water: occupational exposure as a firefighter is carcinogenic to humans, Group 1 (IARC, 2023); dust from dry handling; splashes.
• Damage to the gear from the wrong machine, speed, temperature, detergent or drying: lost thermal and moisture protection that is invisible on the rack.
• Cross-contamination from a shared machine or from mixing a hazmat-contaminated item into a normal load.
• Chemical hazards from detergents, disinfectants and pretreatment products; hot surfaces on a drying cabinet; lifting wet gear.
• Repairs that change the garment’s certification: unauthorized materials, altered closures, added trim.
• A repair returned to service without re-inspection.

Nitrile gloves, eye protection, apron. The extractor to specification: dedicated to protective clothing; programmable; extraction speed not exceeding 100 G and water temperature not above 40 °C (105 °F), both to be verified against the care and maintenance standard (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6) and against the garment manufacturer’s instruction, with the lower of the two governing. Mild liquid detergent within the pH range the standard and the manufacturer allow, measured dosing, no chlorine bleach, no solvents, no fabric softener. Mesh bags for hoods and gloves. Soft brushes, sink and pretreatment product for spot work. Drying racks or a drying cabinet below the manufacturer’s maximum temperature, out of sunlight. Tags, bags, the Form - PPE Cleaning and Repair Log, the repair request form, the manufacturer’s care and repair guidance for each model. (S1)

Pre-use checklist: extractor and cleaning room (each cleaning day)

One trained PPE technician; a second person for lifting wet loads where the batch is large. Training: the standard’s advanced cleaning content by a manufacturer course, a verified ISP course or an equivalent recorded curriculum; extractor operation and calibration; refresher every three years or on a change of model, detergent or standard edition; the first 10 cleanings of a new technician checked by a second trained person or the ISP (Protective Clothing and Equipment Program section 6). (S1)

1. Receive and sort on the dirty side. Check every bag’s tag against the cleaning log: member, station, incident, date. Decision point: separate anything that is not a normal fire exposure (hazmat, biological, fuel, unknown) and hold it for Part B. Open the log entry for each serial number.
2. Prepare the load. Separate the liner from the shell. Close every closure (zipper, hooks, hook-and-loop) so they cannot snag. Turn the shell inside out where the manufacturer directs. Empty pockets, remove the drag rescue device strap if the manufacturer says so, and remove suspenders and detachable hardware. Check for gross debris and brush it off at the sink.
3. Pretreat. Spot-treat heavily soiled areas (collar, cuffs, knees, front closure) with the approved pretreatment or detergent and a soft brush. Do not use solvents.
4. Load by like items. Shells with shells, liners with liners; never overload beyond the manufacturer’s load size; never mix in station wear, mops or rags. Hoods and gloves go in mesh bags on the gentle program or by the hood manufacturer’s method, at no more than 100 G and 40 °C (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6).
5. Run the approved program. Measured detergent dose. The program’s extraction speed and water temperature stay within the limits in section 4; the lower of the standard’s limit and the garment manufacturer’s limit governs (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6). Do not shorten or alter the cycle.
6. Helmets and boots by hand. Disassemble the helmet as the manufacturer allows; wash the shell, suspension, chin strap and faceshield or goggles with mild soap and water; rinse; dry. Wash boots inside and out with mild soap and water; rinse; dry upright.
7. Inspect at the door. Unload onto the clean side. Smell and look: residual smoke odour, soiling or staining means the element goes through again or to specialized treatment; record it as a cleaning-effectiveness finding.
8. Dry. Hang on racks or place in the drying cabinet, liner and shell apart, out of direct sunlight, with air temperature below the manufacturer’s maximum. Never a household dryer on heat. Store only when fully dry.
9. Reassemble and route. Reattach the liner, hardware and strap. Elements due for advanced inspection, or cleaned after a fire exposure that required advanced cleaning, go to SWP - Bunker Gear Advanced Inspection before return. Otherwise tag clean and return to the member or the loaner pool.
10. Log it. Record on the Form - PPE Cleaning and Repair Log and the per-garment record: date, serial number, type of cleaning, program, detergent, extractor serial, technician, any effectiveness finding, and the ISP batch number and chain of custody where contracted.
11. Wastewater and housekeeping. Discharge only to the sanitary sewer in accordance with the municipality’s sewer-use rules, never to a storm drain; the {{PPE Coordinator}} holds the municipality’s written requirement; the standard addresses wastewater handling (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 6). Wipe down the dirty side, clean the dispenser and door seal, wash hands.

12. Isolate and identify. Keep the element bagged and tagged on the dirty side, apart from other loads. The company officer’s log entry and the Form - Exposure Report name the contaminant and the circumstances. Get the safety data sheet where one exists. Consult the garment manufacturer and, for a hazardous material, the hazmat team through the Hazardous Materials, CBRN and Energy Hazards Program; for a biological contaminant, the Infection Control and Medical Response Safety Program and the infection control chapter of the occupational health and wellness standard (NFPA 1580, 2025).
13. Decide the method. Decision point: the {{PPE Coordinator}} chooses, in writing, one of: the manufacturer’s method for that contaminant; a manufacturer-approved disinfectant and method for biological contamination; the {{Verified ISP}}’s specialized service; or retirement. Gear contaminated by fuels, oils or chemicals known to degrade the moisture barrier is retired. Gear that cannot be identified or cleaned is retired. Asbestos-contaminated gear is handled as asbestos waste under the applicable asbestos regulation (J21 WHMIS, Hazardous Materials and Asbestos) (Protective Clothing and Equipment Program element 5.9).
14. Clean, inspect, record. Apply the method; run advanced inspection on the element before any return to service; record the contaminant, method, decision and result on the cleaning log and the per-garment record; file the retirement record where the element is retired (SWP - Bunker Gear Retirement and Records).

15. Raise the request. The company officer or the inspector completes the program’s repair request with serial number, the damage, its cause where known, and confirmation the element has had advanced cleaning. No element goes for repair uncleaned.
16. Approve and assign. The {{PPE Coordinator}} approves and assigns the repair to the manufacturer, the {{Verified ISP}} or the in-house technician according to the standard’s limits on what may be repaired in house (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 8). In-house repairs are limited to minor seam work and small-area shell patching with the manufacturer’s materials; moisture barrier and thermal liner repairs beyond minor seam and small-area patching go to the manufacturer or the verified provider. Decision point: any repair that would change a certified feature (unauthorized materials, altered closures, added pockets or trim, different thread) is refused; the element is retired instead.
17. Repair and re-inspect. The repairer records what was done and the materials used. Every repaired element has an advanced inspection before it returns to service (SWP - Bunker Gear Advanced Inspection).
18. Log it. Record the repair, materials, who did it, the post-repair inspection and the return date on the cleaning and repair log and the per-garment record; keep the repair record for the life of the garment.

Cleaning effectiveness checks (S2). Where cleaning is contracted, the provider holds a current verification as a verified independent service provider, which includes third-party verification of cleaning effectiveness, and supplies batch records with chain of custody (NFPA 1850, 2026, ch. 11). Where cleaning is in-house, the {{PPE Coordinator}} runs the documented validation in the program (visual and tactile sample check after every load; light-coloured swatches washed with a sample of loads and compared for residual soiling; laboratory analysis of a sample of cleaned shells against a new-shell baseline where the budget allows) at commissioning and annually, and records the method, sample and result (Protective Clothing and Equipment Program element 5.10).

• Extractor failure mid-cycle or calibration found overdue: hold the load bagged on the dirty side; members use their second set or loaners; call the service contractor and the {{PPE Coordinator}} the same day; log the downtime.
• A hazmat-tagged item was run in a normal load: treat the whole load as contaminated; isolate it; consult the hazmat officer; run the extractor empty on a cleaning cycle as the manufacturer directs before the next load; file the exposure report for the technician.
• Skin or eye contact with detergent, disinfectant or wash water: flush and follow the safety data sheet; report.
• Element damaged in cleaning (shrinkage, delamination, trim lifting): category D, hold for the {{PPE Coordinator}}; review the program settings and the calibration before the next load.
• Residual smoke odour after two cycles: specialized treatment or retirement; record as an effectiveness finding.

The Form - PPE Cleaning and Repair Log entry per element per cycle; the per-garment record in {{Records system}}; the extractor calibration and maintenance record; the repair request and record; the {{Verified ISP}} certificate, batch records and chain of custody; the cleaning validation record; the municipality’s wastewater requirement. The {{PPE Coordinator}} reports advanced cleaning currency, cleaning after exposure within seven days, and effectiveness findings in the quarterly update. A load that failed, a missed cycle or a wrong product is a finding about the system and is logged in the Corrective Action Register, never held against the technician (Reason, 1997; Dekker, 2016). (S1)

Technician course certificate on file; first 10 cleanings checked; refresher every three years or on a change of model, detergent or edition. The Protective Clothing, Equipment and Decontamination Program Improvement Team reviews this procedure every 12 months, on any edition change, when a new garment model or barrier (including a non-PFAS barrier with different care needs) enters service, and whenever a learning team finds the room being used for other loads or the cycle being shortened; it is rewritten with the technicians who do the work (Hollnagel, 2014; Conklin, 2012). Safety-sensitive changes go to the {{JOHSC}} before adoption. Signed off by the {{PPE Program Manager}}. (S1)

Protective Clothing and Equipment Program · Decontamination and Contamination Control Program · Policy - Personal Protective Equipment and Contamination Control · Hazardous Materials, CBRN and Energy Hazards Program · Infection Control and Medical Response Safety Program · SWP - Post-Call Station Decontamination · SWP - Bunker Gear Routine Inspection and Cleaning · SWP - Bunker Gear Advanced Inspection · SWP - Bunker Gear Retirement and Records · Form - PPE Cleaning and Repair Log · Form - PPE Advanced Inspection Checksheet · Form - PPE Retirement Record · Form - Exposure Report · Checklist - Protective Clothing and Equipment · Corrective Action Register · Incident Investigation and Learning Program

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.