29 Cfr 1910.157

rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with CFR

§ 1910.157

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–10 Edition)

(ii) Approved self-contained breathing apparatus with full-facepiece, or
with approved helmet or hood configuration, shall be provided to and worn
by fire brigade members while working
inside buildings or confined spaces
where toxic products of combustion or
an oxygen deficiency may be present.
Such apparatus shall also be worn during emergency situations involving
toxic substances.
(iii) Approved self-contained breathing apparatus may be equipped with either a ‘‘buddy-breathing’’ device or a
quick disconnect valve, even if these
devices are not certified by NIOSH. If
these accessories are used, they shall
not cause damage to the apparatus, or
restrict the air flow of the apparatus,
or obstruct the normal operation of the
apparatus.
(iv) Approved self-contained compressed air breathing apparatus may be
used with approved cylinders from
other approved self-contained compressed air breathing apparatus provided that such cylinders are of the
same capacity and pressure rating. All
compressed air cylinders used with
self-contained
breathing
apparatus
shall meet DOT and NIOSH criteria.
(v)
Self-contained
breathing
apparatuses must have a minimum
service-life rating of 30 minutes in accordance with the methods and requirements specified by NIOSH under
42 CFR part 84, except for escape selfcontained
breathing
apparatus
(ESCBAs) used only for emergency escape purposes.
(vi) Self-contained breathing apparatus shall be provided with an indicator which automatically sounds an
audible alarm when the remaining
service life of the apparatus is reduced
to within a range of 20 to 25 percent of
its rated service time.
(2) Positive-pressure breathing apparatus. (i) The employer shall assure
that self-contained breathing apparatus ordered or purchased after July 1,
1981, for use by fire brigade members
performing interior structural fire
fighting operations, are of the pressure-demand or other positive-pressure
type. Effective July 1, 1983, only pressure-demand or other positive-pressure
self-contained
breathing
apparatus
shall be worn by fire brigade members

performing interior structural fire
fighting.
(ii) This paragraph does not prohibit
the use of a self-contained breathing
apparatus where the apparatus can be
switched from a demand to a positivepressure mode. However, such apparatus shall be in the positive-pressure
mode when fire brigade members are
performing interior structural fire
fighting operations.
[45 FR 60706, Sept. 12, 1980; 46 FR 24557, May
1, 1981; 49 FR 18295, Apr. 30, 1984; 61 FR 9239,
Mar. 7, 1996; 63 FR 1284, Jan. 8, 1998; 63 FR
33467, June 18, 1998; 73 FR 75584, Dec. 12, 2008]

PORTABLE FIRE SUPPRESSION
EQUIPMENT
§ 1910.157 Portable fire extinguishers.
(a) Scope and application. The requirements of this section apply to the
placement, use, maintenance, and testing of portable fire extinguishers provided for the use of employees. Paragraph (d) of this section does not apply
to extinguishers provided for employee
use on the outside of workplace buildings or structures. Where extinguishers
are provided but are not intended for
employee use and the employer has an
emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan that meet the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.38 and 29 CFR
1910.39 respectively, then only the requirements of paragraphs (e) and (f) of
this section apply.
(b) Exemptions. (1) Where the employer has established and implemented a written fire safety policy
which requires the immediate and total
evacuation of employees from the
workplace upon the sounding of a fire
alarm signal and which includes an
emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan which meet the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.38 and 29 CFR
1910.39 respectively, and when extinguishers are not available in the workplace, the employer is exempt from all
requirements of this section unless a
specific standard in part 1910 requires
that a portable fire extinguisher be
provided.
(2) Where the employer has an emergency action plan meeting the requirements of § 1910.38 which designates certain employees to be the only employees authorized to use the available

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rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with CFR

Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor
portable fire extinguishers, and which
requires all other employees in the fire
area to immediately evacuate the affected work area upon the sounding of
the fire alarm, the employer is exempt
from the distribution requirements in
paragraph (d) of this section.
(c) General requirements. (1) The employer shall provide portable fire extinguishers and shall mount, locate and
identify them so that they are readily
accessible to employees without subjecting the employees to possible injury.
(2) Only approved portable fire extinguishers shall be used to meet the requirements of this section.
(3) The employer shall not provide or
make available in the workplace portable fire extinguishers using carbon
tetrachloride or chlorobromomethane
extinguishing agents.
(4) The employer shall assure that
portable fire extinguishers are maintained in a fully charged and operable
condition and kept in their designated
places at all times except during use.
(5) The employer shall remove from
service all soldered or riveted shell
self-generating soda acid or self-generating foam or gas cartridge water type
portable fire extinguishers which are
operated by inverting the extinguisher
to rupture the cartridge or to initiate
an uncontrollable pressure generating
chemical reaction to expel the agent.
(d) Selection and distribution. (1) Portable fire extinguishers shall be provided for employee use and selected
and distributed based on the classes of
anticipated workplace fires and on the
size and degree of hazard which would
affect their use.
(2) The employer shall distribute
portable fire extinguishers for use by
employees on Class A fires so that the
travel distance for employees to any
extinguisher is 75 feet (22.9 m) or less.
(3) The employer may use uniformly
spaced standpipe systems or hose stations connected to a sprinkler system
installed for emergency use by employees instead of Class A portable fire extinguishers, provided that such systems meet the respective requirements
of § 1910.158 or § 1910.159, that they provide total coverage of the area to be
protected, and that employees are
trained at least annually in their use.

§ 1910.157

(4) The employer shall distribute
portable fire extinguishers for use by
employees on Class B fires so that the
travel distance from the Class B hazard
area to any extinguisher is 50 feet (15.2
m) or less.
(5) The employer shall distribute
portable fire extinguishers used for
Class C hazards on the basis of the appropriate pattern for the existing Class
A or Class B hazards.
(6) The employer shall distribute
portable fire extinguishers or other
containers of Class D extinguishing
agent for use by employees so that the
travel distance from the combustible
metal working area to any extinguishing agent is 75 feet (22.9 m) or
less. Portable fire extinguishers for
Class D hazards are required in those
combustible metal working areas
where combustible metal powders,
flakes, shavings, or similarly sized
products are generated at least once
every two weeks.
(e) Inspection, maintenance and testing.
(1) The employer shall be responsible
for the inspection, maintenance and
testing of all portable fire extinguishers in the workplace.
(2) Portable extinguishers or hose
used in lieu thereof under paragraph
(d)(3) of this section shall be visually
inspected monthly.
(3) The employer shall assure that
portable fire extinguishers are subjected to an annual maintenance
check. Stored pressure extinguishers
do not require an internal examination. The employer shall record the annual maintenance date and retain this
record for one year after the last entry
or the life of the shell, whichever is
less. The record shall be available to
the Assistant Secretary upon request.
(4) The employer shall assure that
stored pressure dry chemical extinguishers that require a 12-year hydrostatic test are emptied and subjected
to applicable maintenance procedures
every 6 years. Dry chemical extinguishers having non-refillable disposable containers are exempt from this
requirement. When recharging or hydrostatic testing is performed, the 6year requirement begins from that
date.

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§ 1910.157

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–10 Edition)

(5) The employer shall assure that alternate equivalent protection is provided when portable fire extinguishers
are removed from service for maintenance and recharging.
(f) Hydrostatic testing. (1) The employer shall assure that hydrostatic
testing is performed by trained persons
with suitable testing equipment and facilities.
(2) The employer shall assure that
portable
extinguishers
are
hydrostatically tested at the intervals
listed in Table L–1 of this section, except under any of the following conditions:
(i) When the unit has been repaired
by soldering, welding, brazing, or use of
patching compounds;
(ii) When the cylinder or shell
threads are damaged;
(iii) When there is corrosion that has
caused pitting, including corrosion
under removable name plate assemblies;
(iv) When the extinguisher has been
burned in a fire; or
(v) When a calcium chloride extinguishing agent has been used in a
stainless steel shell.
(3) In addition to an external visual
examination, the employer shall assure
that an internal examination of cylinders and shells to be tested is made
prior to the hydrostatic tests.
TABLE L–1
Test
interval
(years)

Type of extinguishers

rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with CFR

Soda acid (soldered brass shells) (until 1/1/82) ........
Soda acid (stainless steel shell) ................................
Cartridge operated water and/or antifreeze ...............
Stored pressure water and/or antifreeze ...................
Wetting agent .............................................................
Foam (soldered brass shells) (until 1/1/82) ...............
Foam (stainless steel shell) .......................................
Aqueous Film Forming foam (AFFF) .........................
Loaded stream ...........................................................
Dry chemical with stainless steel ...............................
Carbon dioxide ...........................................................
Dry chemical, stored pressure, with mild steel,
brazed brass or aluminum shells ...........................
Dry chemical, cartridge or cylinder operated, with
mild steel shells ......................................................
Halon 1211 .................................................................
Halon 1301 .................................................................
Dry powder, cartridge or cylinder operated with mild
steel shells ..............................................................

(1)
5
5
5
5
(1)
5
5
5
5
5
12
12
12
12
12

1 Extinguishers

having shells constructed of copper or brass
joined by soft solder or rivets shall not be hydrostatically tested and shall be removed from service by January 1, 1982.
(Not permitted)

(4) The employer shall assure that
portable
fire
extinguishers
are
hydrostatically tested whenever they
show new evidence of corrosion or mechanical injury, except under the conditions listed in paragraphs (f)(2)(i)–(v)
of this section.
(5) The employer shall assure that
hydrostatic tests are performed on extinguisher hose assemblies which are
equipped with a shut-off nozzle at the
discharge end of the hose. The test interval shall be the same as specified for
the extinguisher on which the hose is
installed.
(6) The employer shall assure that
carbon dioxide hose assemblies with a
shut-off nozzle are hydrostatically
tested at 1,250 psi (8,620 kPa).
(7) The employer shall assure that
dry chemical and dry powder hose assemblies with a shut-off nozzle are
hydrostatically tested at 300 psi (2,070
kPa).
(8) Hose assemblies passing a hydrostatic test do not require any type of
recording or stamping.
(9) The employer shall assure that
hose assemblies for carbon dioxide extinguishers that require a hydrostatic
test are tested within a protective cage
device.
(10) The employer shall assure that
carbon dioxide extinguishers and nitrogen or carbon dioxide cylinders used
with wheeled extinguishers are tested
every 5 years at 5/3 of the service pressure as stamped into the cylinder. Nitrogen cylinders which comply with 49
CFR
173.34(e)(15)
may
be
hydrostatically tested every 10 years.
(11) The employer shall assure that
all stored pressure and Halon 1211 types
of extinguishers are hydrostatically
tested at the factory test pressure not
to exceed two times the service pressure.
(12) The employer shall assure that
acceptable self-generating type soda
acid and foam extinguishers are tested
at 350 psi (2,410 kPa).
(13) Air or gas pressure may not be
used for hydrostatic testing.
(14) Extinguisher shells, cylinders, or
cartridges which fail a hydrostatic
pressure test, or which are not fit for
testing shall be removed from service
and from the workplace.

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Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor
(15)(i) The equipment for testing
compressed gas type cylinders shall be
of the water jacket type. The equipment shall be provided with an expansion indicator which operates with an
accuracy within one percent of the
total expansion or .1cc (.1mL) of liquid.
(ii) The equipment for testing noncompressed gas type cylinders shall
consist of the following:
(A) A hydrostatic test pump, hand or
power operated, capable of producing
not less than 150 percent of the test
pressure, which shall include appropriate check valves and fittings;
(B) A flexible connection for attachment to fittings to test through the extinguisher nozzle, test bonnet, or hose
outlet, as is applicable; and
(C) A protective cage or barrier for
personal protection of the tester, designed to provide visual observation of
the extinguisher under test.
(16) The employer shall maintain and
provide upon request to the Assistant
Secretary evidence that the required
hydrostatic testing of fire extinguishers has been performed at the
time intervals shown in Table L–1.
Such evidence shall be in the form of a
certification record which includes the
date of the test, the signature of the
person who performed the test and the
serial number, or other identifier, of
the fire extinguisher that was tested.
Such records shall be kept until the extinguisher is hydrostatically retested
at the time interval specified in Table
L–1 or until the extinguisher is taken
out of service, whichever comes first.
(g) Training and education. (1) Where
the employer has provided portable fire
extinguishers for employee use in the
workplace, the employer shall also provide an educational program to familiarize employees with the general principles of fire extinguisher use and the
hazards involved with incipient stage
fire fighting.
(2) The employer shall provide the
education required in paragraph (g)(1)
of this section upon initial employment and at least annually thereafter.
(3) The employer shall provide employees who have been designated to
use fire fighting equipment as part of
an emergency action plan with training in the use of the appropriate equipment.

§ 1910.158

(4) The employer shall provide the
training required in paragraph (g)(3) of
this section upon initial assignment to
the designated group of employees and
at least annually thereafter.
[45 FR 60708, Sept. 12, 1980; 46 FR 24557, May
1, 1981, as amended at 51 FR 34560, Sept. 29,
1986; 61 FR 9239, Mar. 7, 1996; 67 FR 67964,
Nov. 7, 2002]

§ 1910.158

Standpipe and hose systems.

(a) Scope and application—(1) Scope.
This section applies to all small hose,
Class II, and Class III standpipe systems installed to meet the requirements of a particular OSHA standard.
(2) Exception. This section does not
apply to Class I standpipe systems.
(b) Protection of standpipes. The employer shall assure that standpipes are
located or otherwise protected against
mechanical
damage.
Damaged
standpipes shall be repaired promptly.
(c) Equipment—(1) Reels and cabinets.
Where reels or cabinets are provided to
contain fire hose, the employer shall
assure that they are designed to facilitate prompt use of the hose valves, the
hose, and other equipment at the time
of a fire or other emergency. The employer shall assure that the reels and
cabinets are conspicuously identified
and used only for fire equipment.
(2) Hose outlets and connections. (i)
The employer shall assure that hose
outlets and connections are located
high enough above the floor to avoid
being obstructed and to be accessible
to employees.
(ii) The employer shall standardize
screw threads or provide appropriate
adapters throughout the system and
assure that the hose connections are
compatible with those used on the supporting fire equipment.
(3) Hose. (i) The employer shall assure
that every 11⁄2″ (3.8 cm) or smaller hose
outlet used to meet this standard is
equipped with hose connected and
ready for use. In extremely cold climates where such installation may result in damaged equipment, the hose
may be stored in another location provided it is readily available and can be
connected when needed.
(ii) Standpipe systems installed after
January 1, 1981, for use by employees,

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