SSEHRI Director Phil Brown and colleagues Kira Mok, Gabriel Wasserman, and Alissa Cordner have published “Firefighter Turnout Gear and Peri-Governmental Influences” in NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy.
The study looks at how the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a private non-profit, sets standards for firefighter protective gear that function almost like government regulation. Until recently, meeting the NFPA’s turnout gear standard required PFAS (“forever chemicals”). Drawing on 27 interviews with firefighters, union representatives, industry representatives, activists, and researchers, the authors introduce the concept of peri-governance and show how these standards become effectively mandatory through government adoption, liability and insurance pressures, sector-wide manufacturer uptake, and references in other standards. They also raise concerns about transparency and manufacturer influence, and recommend lowering barriers to participation in the standards process.
Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.1177/10482911261482003
