Australia, -- Standards Australia has released an interim standard to assist fireauthorities in the selection and development of protective clothing forfirefighters. Fire agencies, the fabric technology industry, manufacturers andunion representatives contributed to the development of interim standard AS4967 -- 2001 -- Protective clothing for firefighters -- Requirements and testmethods for protective clothing used for structural firefighting. The recentlyselected New South Wales Fire Brigade uniforms have a garment shell andprotective liner for ease of cleaning and long-term maintenance. They conformto the standard. Two other fire clothing standards have also been released --AS 4824 (Int) -- 2001 -- Protective clothing for firefighters -- Requirementsand test methods for protective clothing used for wildland firefighting, andAS/NZS 4821 (Int) -- 2000 -- Firefighters' protective footwear.
A draft revision of the StandardsAustralia portable fire extinguisher standard is expected later this year.Changes to AS/NZS: 1841 -- Portable fire extinguishers, may include the removalof the "E" fire classification when the extinguishing agent is aconductor of electricity, such as water or a conductive aqueous solution. Thereis concern about the potential exposure of an operator to electrocution.
Work continueson a revision of the Standards Australia fire maintenance standard. It isanticipated the revised AS 1851 -- 1995 -- Maintenance of fire protectionsystems, will be published in the second half of 2002. The existing 16 parts ofthe standard will be consolidated. It is also anticipated the standard will bereferenced in the Building Code of Australia, making it mandatory.
