AFAC Standards Manager, Russell Shephard, is chairman of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) TC/94 SC/14 Working Group Committee 3; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Wildland Firefighters.

The committee includes representation from an array of international countries and is the body responsible for developing international PPE standards for wildland firefighters (ISO 16073).

Shephard reports, ‘The committee has worked the past six years developing the first PPE ISO standards for wildland firefighter use. These standards include head-to-foot protection with a focus on compatibility across all PPE equipment’.

The standard's final draft incorporates input from AFAC's PPE Group, which provided a significant amount of insight as subsequent drafts were developed en route to the final version.

A final ballot for ISO 16073 was released on November 26, 2010 and closed on January 26, 2011.

The ballot has been successful, with the required number of countries supporting ISO 16073.

This is the first international standard that encompasses use of all PPE equipment for wildland firefighters.

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