DIRECTOR'S ORDER #57: OCCUPATIONAL MEDICAL STANDARDS, HEALTH AND FITNESS
Approved:/s/
Robert Stanton (signed original on file)
Director, National Park Service
Effective Date: March 1, 1999
Sunset Date: March 1, 2003
This Director’s Order, in conjunction with Reference Manual-57--Occupational Medical Standards, Health and Fitness (RM-57), is a complete revision of the NPS "Health and Fitness Guideline, NPS-57." Release No. 1 of NPS-57 is hereby superseded; existing copies should be discarded.
A. Background and Purpose
In 1993, the National Park Service officially determined its designated law enforcement and fire fighter positions would be managed under the provisions of enhanced annuity retirement (as authorized by 18 U.S.C. 8336(c)). The purpose of enhanced annuity retirement is to enable agencies to field a work force capable of performing the rigorous duties1 of law enforcement and fire fighting.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 3307, the mandatory separation age of 55 is applicable to designated fire fighter positions and the mandatory separation age of 57 is applicable to designated law enforcement positions. The mandatory separation age applies to employees in commissioned positions regardless of appointment or series and includes temporary, term, and seasonal appointments.
Corresponding maximum entry ages were established at age 35 for fire fighters and at age 37 for law enforcement officers to ensure employees may meet minimum qualifications for enhanced retirement. The maximum entry age applies to career and career conditional (permanent) appointments. As temporary appointments are not covered by enhanced annuity retirement, the maximum entry age does not apply to temporary, term, or seasonal appointments. However, as the mandatory separation age is applicable to all appointments, no applicant may receive a temporary, term, or seasonal appointment at or after age 57 for law enforcement positions and at or after age 55 for designated fire fighter positions.
In 1996, the Service completed a field study of the actual work of park rangers performing primarily law enforcement duties to enable the Department of the Interior to establish a medical standard for those positions. The study evaluated the work of park rangers performing law enforcement under actual conditions and circumstances and developed proposed medical standards. The Department of the Interior, on July 2, 1998, approved (under authority contained in 5 CFR 339.202) the resulting Medical Standard for Commissioned Park Rangers.
The purpose of this Director’s Order (as supplemented by RM-57) is to establish implementing procedures for the Medical Standards and revise policy for a physical fitness program for designated positions performing rigorous duties.
In addition to meeting requirements of law and regulation, the Medical Standards will substantially improve the safety and professionalism of employees performing law enforcement, fire fighting and other rigorous duties. The Standards are designed to ensure that employees performing law enforcement are physically able to perform that duty and that their performance does not constitute a threat to the health and well being of themselves, their fellow employees, and park visitors.
The Service will achieve its public trust responsibility to provide effective, efficient law enforcement and fire fighting services by fielding a well-trained, physically conditioned, fully capable work force. Beyond law enforcement and fire fighting services, a healthy and physically fit work force is the key to avoiding lost work time due to injury and illness.
Healthy, fit employees are far more productive and less costly than employees requiring extended medical leave and rehabilitation. For these reasons, a secondary purpose of this Director’s Order is to extend and reconstitute the Service’s voluntary (optional) health and fitness program for all employees, regardless of their job duties.
B. Authority
The general authority to issue this Director’s Order is contained in the National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 through 4), and Part 245 of the Department of the Interior Manual. The specific authorities and requirements applicable to employees performing physically rigorous duties covered by this Director’s Order are found in:
Law
5 U.S.C. 3301. Civil service; generally
5 U.S.C. 3307. Competitive service; maximum-age entrance requirements; exceptions
Regulation
5 CFR Part 300-Employment (General)
5 CFR Part 339- Medical Qualification Determinations
29 CFR Part 1910- Occupational Health and Safety
OPM Requirements
OPM Operating Manual: Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions; Section IV, Qualification Standards, and Section VI, Medical Requirements
Departmental Policy
DM-446 Law Enforcement
DOI Occupational Medicine Manual and Reference Manual
Medical Standards, Commissioned Park Rangers, GS-025, approved July 2, 1998
C. Operational Policies and Procedures
C.1 The Service will adopt appropriate medical standards and provide opportunities for designated employees to develop and maintain their physical fitness. The general goal is to establish, encourage, promote, and maintain an efficient and productive work force. The more specific goal is to ensure that all employees assigned law enforcement, fire fighting, and other physically rigorous duties are able safely to perform those duties.
C.2 The Associate Director, Administration, and the Associate Director, Park Operations and Education,are jointly assigned functional authority for the Service’s Occupational Medical Standards, Health and Fitness Program. They will promulgate and periodically revise reference manuals, training courses and materials, certifications, and other necessary materials and documents to implement and operate this program consistent with the policies, procedures and authorities contained in this Director’s Order.
C.3 The Associate Director, Administration, and the Associate Director, Park Operations and Education, will distribute and otherwise reproduce within Reference Manual-57 medical standards approved by the Department of the Interior for park ranger (protection) positions, and by the Office of Personnel Management for firefighter and other positions. Medical standards for other positions may be found in the OPM Operating Manual "Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions" and/or Reference Manual-18, Wildland Fire Management. All standards must be applied uniformly by all managers throughout the Service.
C.4 Servicewide consistency in the implementation and operation of this program is vital and required. Coordination and integration of the Occupational Medical Standards, Health and Fitness Program within existing functional and organizational structures must take place and be coordinated primarily at the Washington Office level by senior officials assigned by the Associate Director, Park Operations and Education and the Associate Director, Administration.
C.5 In order to ensure Servicewide consistency, final Service decisions regarding the medical and physical fitness of individuals to perform physically rigorous operational functions and associated training activities will be made by the Associate Director, Administration. An appeal of a Medical Standards disqualification determination must be made by an employee within 30 calendar days of receipt of notification of disqualification. The decision of the MSB will constitute the final agency decision. Pursuant to 270 DM 771.3.5B, appeals of Medical Standards disqualification determinations are processed through the procedures of the MSB and are not subject to review by the administrative grievance procedure. In cases appealed to the Medical Standards Board, the Board Chairperson will issue final Service decisions.
C.6 An applicant who does not meet the OPM or Departmental medical standards established for such work may not be appointed to a position designated for enhanced law enforcement or firefighter retirement. This applies to career, career-conditional, term, and temporary appointments.
C.7 An employee who does not meet the medical standards established for such work may not perform law enforcement or fire fighting work, regardless of whether the duties are primary to the position or collateral, unless the Medical Standards Board approves a request for reasonable accommodation.
C.8 An employee may not be admitted to law enforcement or fire fighting training that requires the regular or frequent performance of rigorous duties unless s/he meets the medical standards established for persons performing such duties. Any employee may be admitted to training that requires only occasional or incidental performance of rigorous duties.
C.9 The Medical Review Officer (who may be an employee or contractor) will make initial (pre-hire) medical qualification recommendations which will then be subject to approval by the Associate Director, Administration (or designee).
C.10 The Medical Review Officer will make post-hire (career or temporary employees) medical qualification recommendations on a regularly scheduled basis as defined in Reference Manuals 18 and 57. The Associate Director, Administration (or designee) will issue medical qualification decisions.
C.11 Reasonable accommodation may be considered in each instance of medical disqualification of an employee if the disqualification is the result of disability. In the event park management is or should be aware of an obvious or apparent disability, the employee’s supervisor or manager should seek assistance through equal opportunity professionals and request accommodation on behalf of the employee. In the event the disability is not obvious or apparent, the employee may request such accommodation to the park superintendent or appropriate manager. The superintendent will forward the request and his/her recommendation through the Regional Director to the (WASO) Human Resources Program Manager. All requests for reasonable accommodation for disability as a result of medical disqualification must be reviewed and approved by the Medical Standards Board prior to implementation.
C.12 The Associate Director, Park Operations and Education, and Associate Director, Administration will appoint the Medical Standards Board (MSB). The MSB will consist of: 1) the Chief, Ranger Activities Division (or designee); 2) the Chief Law Enforcement Officer or the Program Manager for Wildland Fire Operations, or other appropriate risk program manager; 3) a senior Service safety manager; 4) the Medical Review Officer; and 5) the Human Resources Program Manager (or designee). The Human Resources Program Manager (or designee) will serve as the MSB Chairperson.
C.13 The MSB Chairperson will be the deciding official in reasonable accommodation determinations and will be the spokesperson for the MSB before any third party.
C.14 The Service will use the Physical Efficiency Battery (PEB) of measurements developed at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), as the mandatory physical fitness test for initial appointment to a position whose duties are primarily law enforcement. The Service will use the applicable Work Capacity Test Series as physical fitness test for appointment to designated fire fighting positions.
C.15 The PEB and the Work Capacity Test Series will be threshold tests and baseline fitness measures. The Service will generally not place persons failing to pass the PEB or the Work Capacity Test Series in law enforcement or firefighter training that requires the regular performance of rigorous duties.
C.16 For current employees performing law enforcement and/or fire fighting duties, the PEB and the Work Capacity Test Series will serve to identify individuals who are potentially at high risk of injury or disease by continuing to perform the rigorous duties of their position. By administering the PEB and the Work Capacity Test Series, the Service will identify employees whose physical condition may pose a potential health or safety risk to themselves, to co-workers, or to the public. The Service may require these employees to reduce or eliminate that potential risk through mandatory participation in a health and fitness program focused on positive improvement and achieving fitness results.
C.17 All parks and units employing Park Rangers or other employees assigned law enforcement or fire fighting duties may provide each such employee up to 3 hours of mandatory-participation physical fitness exercise time per work-week. Pursuant to DO-18, those wildland firefighters whose fulltime duties are 100 percent arduous duty-related (such as helitack, hotshot, engine, prescribed fire, smokejumper crews) will normally be provided 1 hour per day for fitness training. Parks and units may provide or make available appropriate and safe facilities and equipment to enable each mandatory-participation employee to maintain adequate physical conditioning to perform safely the rigorous duties assigned. Park managers may develop on-site fitness facilities and/or provide for employee participation in fitness facilities within a reasonable distance to the park or office.
C.18 The Service will continue to invest in the health and physical well being of all its employees, regardless of job series or duties, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 7901 and 16 U.S.C. 1a-2(b). Service managers are encouraged to support voluntary fitness programs to promote the physical and mental fitness of employees under their supervision. Managers may utilize flexible and alternative work schedules, grant annual leave or leave without pay, disseminate information concerning community-based programs, offer in-house fitness and health education programs, and use other appropriate means to support employee health and fitness goals.
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