CSA Group has released a draft standard addressing a critical gap in hydrogen safety: training for the people who respond when something goes wrong.
Z1670 (“Competency and training needs of emergency responders addressing incidents involving hydrogen”) establishes competency and training requirements for firefighters, police, and other emergency personnel who may encounter hydrogen vehicles, fueling stations, or industrial systems during an incident.
H2FCP’s Operations and Technical Director Jennifer Hamilton chairs the CSA S728 Technical Committee on Safety of Emergency Responders, the body overseeing the S728.1 Technical Subcommittee responsible for this draft. Her leadership reflects our organization's long-standing commitment to responder readiness as foundational infrastructure for hydrogen deployment, not an afterthought.
“Keeping our responders educated is what keeps them safe. It's a privilege to be a part of this effort and to work with a great team on this project,” said Hamilton.
The review period closes September 22, 2026.
Anyone can submit comments directly on the draft by creating a free account on the CSA Public Review site and using the "Submit Comment" link under any section of the document.
Note that the Public Review site requires a separate account from CSA Communities. First-time users will need to register before viewing or commenting on the draft.
Emergency responder training standards like Z1670 matter because they give fire departments, transit agencies, and municipalities a consistent baseline for hydrogen incident response, rather than each jurisdiction building its own protocol from scratch. As hydrogen fueling infrastructure and heavy-duty vehicle fleets expand across California and into new regions, having responders trained to a common national standard is exactly the kind of unglamorous groundwork that keeps deployment moving safely and on schedule.
We encourage our members and partners to review the draft and submit comments before the September 22th deadline. Share this with your safety teams, your local fire departments, and anyone in your network who trains or equips emergency responders.