This past week I attended the ICC code action committee hearings in Dallas. My purpose was to testify against some damaging code change proposals on behalf of the Patient Fire Safety Coalition.
It was my first time being involved with the ICC codes. Being part of the fire service in Florida, I have become intimately familiar with the NFPA codes. Getting a grip on the International Fire Code, how it works and how to use it, provided a challenge. It is a good experience, although not a code that I will use often in my daily job as a Fire Inspector, it is a tool that is definitely good to have a working knowledge of, especially since most of the nation seems to base their codes on the IFC.
Testifying at the code action committee hearings, was a stressful undertaking for me. I was in a room full (about 200 people) of individuals that had more experience than me, were smarter than I was, more familiar with the material than me, and had more "skin in the game" than I did. I have taught many classes, and given countless presentations, but I have never been more nervous than when I stepped up to the mic to give my arguments at the code action committee hearings. It is kind of embarrassing, I am a grown man, yet in the presence of these knowledgeable people, and the task at hand, I felt like a little girl at her first talent show.
I have found that the greatest growth comes when, and only when, we are required to act outside of our comfort zones.
For the record, two of the code change proposals that we opposed went in our favor and two did not. We will oppose these at the ICC Committee Conference in October (Atlantic City, NJ). I would encourage all those in the business of fire prevention and fire codes to attend these events at least once. It is a valuable experience that provides a new depth of understanding to the code development process.
I will also say, that seeing the ICC in action has given me a new appreciation for the thoroughness of the NFPA. Some of the arguments brought forth at the ICC were to take care of, or put into the code, issues that the NFPA has long required. The IFC is more broadly adopted and therefore more easily applied to communities across the country, however, the NFPA seems to be more clearly written, with more precision, and guidance, and more enforceable.
I do want to encourage those in the fire service to become involved in the code development process at some level (even for just one round), ICC or NFPA, to gain a greater perspective on the importance of fire prevention and life safety in everything that we do.
"...stepping out of your comfort zone sometimes is the most courageous thing of all." - Steve Peifer
Speak out for Healthcare Fire Safety!
Are you attending the ICC Committee Action hearings in Dallas?
The International Firestop Council has published a brochure, Move America's Healthcare Fire Safety Forward, to bring attention to the potentially harmful code change proposals to be presented by the healthcare industry. At the International Code Council Fire Code Action Hearings, the hospital industry, through the ICC AHC, will introduce code change proposals to the IFC designed to simplify and streamline the constraints under which healthcare facilities operate. We believe that most of them are very good and will assist code enforcement in healthcare facilities. Unfortunately, among those other worthwhile proposals, there are a few that would be quite contrary to the goals of a fire safe hospital environment.
Download, MOVE AMERICA'S HEALTHCARE FIRE SAFETY FORWARD, brochure now.
The International Firestop Council is confident that the various stakeholders can better work together to provide optimized solutions that balance healthcare operational considerations with patient and worker fire safety. Code change proposals F212-13, F218-13, and F239-13 are flawed ideas which concerned individuals need to speak out against at the Committee Action hearing.
The International Firestop Council, along with the Patient Fire Safety Coalition, is calling all code officials dedicated to public safety to step up to the mic and let your voice be heard in Dallas, on April 23-25.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you, The Code Coach readers, to another organization that I am passionate about, and work with. This organization is the Patient Fire Safety Coalition.
As the healthcare industry searches for ways to boost profits, they have set their sights on the elimination of fire and life safety systems. Their main tactic to accomplish this is to lobby for sweeping changes of current fire codes (IFC). They seek changes that will eliminate fire rated walls and smoke barriers, exceptions that will allow the maintenance of these systems to be abandoned, and the removal of system components that ensure general patient safety.
The International Fire Code defines these healthcare facilities as “buildings and structures used for medical, surgical, psychiatric, nursing or custodial care for persons who are not capable of self-preservation. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following: child care facilities, detoxification facilities, hospitals, mental hospitals, nursing homes.” The primary and sole objective of the Patient Fire Safety Coalition is to serve as an advocate for those patients and individuals who become “not capable of self-preservation”. That they can rest assured that they will be safe in their healing environment. Our goal is to speak in favor of upholding current fire and life safety codes, and ensures that healthcare facilities remain the safe spaces that a patients family and loved ones would expect for it to be. The Patient Fire Safety Coalition is the voice for those who cannot speak, and a watch dog to make certain that health care facilities must maintain the highest standards of fire protection and life safety.
In April the Healthcare industry will try to push through the following reductions in fire/life safety:
• Eliminate fire resistance rated corridors (IFC 1105.3.2)
• Discontinue maintenance of existing smoke and fire barriers (IFC 1103.1)
• Treat existing smoke barriers as ½ hour rated, not requiring any fire stopping or opening protectives (IFC 1105.5.2)
• Consider glass walls in sprinkled buildings to be 1 hour rated (IFC 1103.4.1)
The Patient Fire Safety Coalition needs you to speak out against these changes at the ICC Committee Action Hearing in Dallas on April 21-30, 2013. Join the cause or contact us, info@patientfiresafety.org , to get involved and take a stand for patient fire and life safety.
Please consider joining me in April to stand against these changes. For more information, to see the arguments in-depth, or to donate to the cause, please visit, www.patientfiresafety.org.
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