Significantly revised, the 2018 edition of NFPA 472 works to ensure responders can perform their expected tasks and handle haz-mat/WMD incidents safely and effectively.

Adopted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, NFPA 472: Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents helps reduce accidents, injuries, illnesses, disabilities, and fatalities by ensuring that responders to haz-mat/WMD incidents are up to the task.

NFPA 472 identifies the minimum levels of competence required by responders to emergencies involving hazardous materials/weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It applies to awareness level personnel, operations level responders, hazardous materials technicians, incident commanders, hazardous materials officers, hazardous materials safety officers, and other specialist employees.

This important Standard is considered the parent document to:

• NFPA 473: Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents
• NFPA 475: Recommended Practice for Organizing, Managing, and Sustaining a Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Response Program
• NFPA 1072: Standard for Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Emergency Response Personnel Professional Qualifications

Major changes in the 2018 edition help align the documents, to provide greater clarity and consistency for response personnel, their commanders, and governing authorities:

• Significant modifications address the competency baseline of hazardous materials technician
• Added chapters provide specialty or advanced specialty competencies for the technician level, including monitoring and detection, consequence analysis and planning, chemical risk assessment and analysis, product control, weapons of mass destruction, and decontamination.
• Revised chapters cover awareness and operations levels to correlate with the other documents.
• Two added operation level responder mission-specific competencies address diving in contaminated water environment and evidence collection.

The latest edition of NFPA 472 is essential for anyone who responds to hazardous materials/WMD incidents, including fire, rescue, law enforcement, emergency medical services, private industry, and allied professionals.