1. SFT
  2. Archiwum
  3. Vol. 67 1/2026
  4. Firefighter Operational Hygiene as a ...

Firefighter Operational Hygiene as a System for Reducing Secondary Exposure to Hazardous Substances Present in the Fire Environment – Review of Scientific Evidence and Normative Documents

brig. (retd.) Tomasz Krasowski, M.Sc. Eng.

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DOI: 10.12845/sft.67.1.2026.7, pages: 146 – 161

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to provide a synthetic and critical analysis of the phenomenon of secondary exposure of firefighters to the hazardous substances present in the fire environment and to identify effective strategies to reduce that risk in systemic terms, including personal protective equipment management.

Methodology: The conducted integrated structure narrative review covered the analysis of scientific literature (field studies, laboratory experiments, biomonitoring studies), institutional reports and normative documents (PN-EN 469, PN-EN ISO 13688, ISO 23616, NFPA 1851). The analysis focused on the mechanisms of contamination of protective clothing, routes of secondary exposure and effectiveness of technical and organisational interventions.

Results: The analysis demonstrated that the secondary exposure of firefighters is multi-stage in nature and covers the subsequent phases of the operational cycle — from the incident scene, through transport and fire station functioning, to the re-use of protective clothing. Empirical studies confirm that individual interventions, such as preliminary decontamination, organisational changes or specific cleaning methods, lead to a partial reduction of the contamination level, however their effectiveness is usually limited to selected stages of the process and does not permanently reduce the total health risk.

Conclusions: Effective reduction of the secondary exposure of firefighters requires the implementation of an integrated system including technical, organisational, procedural, training and supervisory activities at all stages of the operational cycle. In this context, an important role is played by personal protective equipment management, including the application of validated decontamination processes, as part of long-term health prevention.

Keywords: operational hygiene, secondary exposure, personal protective equipment, fire service, decontamination, PPE, contamination control

Type of article: review article

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