Indiana Administrative Code › Title 35 - BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INDIANA PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEM › Article 2 - POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION AND DISABILITY FUND (1977 FUND) › Rule 9 - Baseline Statewide Medical Examinations and Standards › Section 9-1 - Purpose

Current through July 10, 2024
Authority: IC 5-10.5-4-2; IC 36-8-8-5; IC 36-8-8-19
Affected: IC 36-8-8-7
Sec. 1.
(a) This rule
				identifies the baseline statewide physical medical standards that are
				applicable to all applicants who desire to become members of the 1977 Police
				Officers' and Firefighters' Pension and Disability Fund (1977 Fund). The
				baseline statewide medical standards are designed to ensure all applicants
				seeking to become a police officer or firefighter are capable of successfully
				performing the essential functions of the job without imposing a direct threat
				to the health or safety of themselves, coworkers, or the public with whom they
				come in contact during the course of employment.
(b) The requirements in this rule and in 35
				IAC 2-10, containing the Class 3 excludable conditions, were based on in-depth
				consideration of the essential functions of the job for police officers and
				firefighters.
(c) For firefighters,
				consideration was also given to the fact that the essential functions are
				performed in and affected by environmental factors, including the following:
(1) Operate both as a member of a team and
				independently at incidents of uncertain duration.
(2) Spend extensive time outside exposed to
				the elements.
(3) Experience
				frequent transition from hot to cold and from humid to dry
				atmospheres.
(4) Tolerate extreme
				fluctuations in temperature and perform physically demanding work in hot (up to
				four hundred degrees Fahrenheit (400°F)), humid (up to one hundred percent
				(100%)) atmospheres while wearing equipment that significantly impairs body
				cooling mechanisms.
(5) Work in
				wet, icy, or muddy areas.
(6)
				Perform a variety of tasks on slippery, hazardous surfaces, such as on roof
				tops or from ladders.
(7) Work in
				areas where sustaining traumatic or thermal injury is possible.
(8) Face exposure to carcinogenic dusts such
				as:
(A) asbestos; or
(B) toxic substances, such as:
(i) hydrogen cyanide;
(ii) acids;
(iii) carbon monoxide; or
(iv) organic solvents;
either through inhalation or skin contact.
(9) Face exposure to
				infectious agents such as hepatitis B or human immunodeficiency virus
				(HIV).
(10) Perform complex tasks
				during life-threatening emergencies.
(11) Work for long periods of time, requiring
				sustained physical activity and intense concentration.
(12) Face life or death decisions during
				emergency conditions.
(13) Tolerate
				exposure to grotesque sights and smells associated with major trauma and burn
				victims.
(14) Make rapid
				transitions from rest to near maximal exertion without warm-up
				periods.
(15) Operate in
				environments:
(A) of high noise;
(B) of poor visibility;
(C) of limited mobility;
(D) at heights; and
(E) in enclosed or confined spaces.
(16) Use manual or power tools in
				the performance of duties.
(17)
				Rely on senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch to help determine the nature
				of the emergency, maintain personal safety, and make critical decisions in
				confused, chaotic, and potentially life-threatening environments.
(18) Wear personal protective equipment that
				weighs approximately fifty (50) pounds while performing the essential functions
				of the job.
(19) Perform physically
				demanding work while wearing positive pressure breathing equipment with one and
				five-tenths (1.5) inches water column resistance to exhalation at a flow of
				forty (40) liters per minute.
(20)
				Be able to communicate with people effectively.