It seems like we're on a helmet fixation lately, so might as well throw another one out there that I'm sure many people feel passionately about. 
We had a policy in one of my former departments that you had to keep your helmet clean. In other words, if you went to a big fire and got soot all over it, you had to clean it up. Sometimes the chief would let it slide for a while but after a couple of months he'd walk by the turnout rack and notice the helmets and he'd order the guys to clean them. If they didn't, he'd have the BC in charge of safety go around and clean them himself. That really *issed some guys off.
The chief's main thing was safety. Not only did the soot cover up the reflective decals but it was the carcinogens. He reasoned it was no different than requiring guys to wash their turnouts after a major fire. His secondary reason was he thought the helmets just looked nicer and more "professional" when they were clean. Nothing he did during his tenure caused more controversy than messing with the helmets. But given I've had a couple recent NFA instructors start harping about keeping helmets clean, I guess he was before his time.
Personally it's not an issue I care to tackle at my current department. The guys would flip out and there are more important safety things to worry about first, like making sure everyone has a good set of turnouts.

We had a policy in one of my former departments that you had to keep your helmet clean. In other words, if you went to a big fire and got soot all over it, you had to clean it up. Sometimes the chief would let it slide for a while but after a couple of months he'd walk by the turnout rack and notice the helmets and he'd order the guys to clean them. If they didn't, he'd have the BC in charge of safety go around and clean them himself. That really *issed some guys off.
The chief's main thing was safety. Not only did the soot cover up the reflective decals but it was the carcinogens. He reasoned it was no different than requiring guys to wash their turnouts after a major fire. His secondary reason was he thought the helmets just looked nicer and more "professional" when they were clean. Nothing he did during his tenure caused more controversy than messing with the helmets. But given I've had a couple recent NFA instructors start harping about keeping helmets clean, I guess he was before his time.
Personally it's not an issue I care to tackle at my current department. The guys would flip out and there are more important safety things to worry about first, like making sure everyone has a good set of turnouts.
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