National Standard for Occupational Psychological Hazard Protection (OPHP)

The FRBH National Standard for Occupational Psychological Hazard Protection (OPHP) is developed, adopted, and maintained by the American Board of First Responder Behavioral Healthcare (FRBH). The Standard recognizes Occupational Psychological Hazard Exposure as a predictable occupational hazard and establishes organizational expectations for governance, exposure-informed activation, organizational accountability, and continual improvement.

‍DOWNLOAD THE NATIONAL STANDARD (PDF)
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Published without charge. The Standard may be reproduced and distributed in unaltered form for the purpose of implementing it.

Foundational Principles
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• Occupational Psychological Hazard Exposure is a predictable occupational hazard
• Predictable occupational hazards require predictable organizational protection
• Organizational responsibility begins with qualifying exposure, not with individual disclosure
• Organizational protection preserves workforce autonomy regarding participation
• Recognition and participation are protected from reprisal
• Governance provides accountability
• Existing workforce protection capabilities are strengthened through coordination
• Organizational learning strengthens protection over time
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Basis in Occupational Safety Practice
Occupational safety practice holds that organizations bear responsibility for protecting workers from foreseeable occupational hazards, discharged through governance, hazard recognition, protective measures, evaluation, and continual improvement rather than through response after injury occurs.
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These principles have been extended to psychosocial hazards generally through instruments including ISO 45003 and CSA Z1003, and are reflected in occupational health frameworks such as NIOSH Total Worker Health. What has not been codified is their operational application to the predictable psychological hazards specific to public safety work.
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The FRBH National Standard addresses that application. It is a public-safety-specific complement to those broader instruments rather than a replacement for them, and conformity with it requires conformity with none of them.
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Structure of the Standard
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‍Chapter 1 — Foundational Concepts.
‍Definitions, core principles, and the relationship to existing occupational safety frameworks.
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‍Chapter 2 — Organizational Expectations.
The normative requirements: governance, recognition of qualifying exposure and its minimum floor, organizational activation and periodic exercise, workforce protection coordination, confidential access and protection from reprisal, leadership oversight, organizational evaluation, continual improvement, and conformity.
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‍Chapter 3 — Conformity.
‍Defined review intervals, evidence sufficiency criteria, and nonconformity classification, making conformity objectively determinable.
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‍Chapter 4 — Legal and Regulatory Interface.
Identifies where implementation intersects with state peer-support confidentiality statutes, HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2, disability and workers' compensation law, collective bargaining, and public records access.
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‍Chapter 5 — Revision and Maintenance.
‍Review cycle, change transparency, version designation, and continuity of the Standard.
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‍Chapter 6 — Requirements for Conformity Assessment Bodies.
Requirements for bodies assessing conformity, including independence, competence, evidence, confidentiality, and complaints. FRBH does not conduct or recognize conformity assessments.
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‍Annexes A through I. Evidence examples, implementation considerations, relationship to existing capabilities, illustrative exposures, basis and rationale, field validation status, revision history, a rapid adoption toolkit, and the open questions FRBH has not yet resolved.
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Applicability
‍The Standard applies to organizations whose personnel experience predictable Occupational Psychological Hazard Exposure in the performance of their duties. It is profession-neutral and applies to all personnel exposed in the course of duty, regardless of sworn status, licensure, or employment classification — including volunteers and telecommunications and support personnel.

‍🚒 Fire Service
🚑 Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
🚔 Law Enforcement
📞 Public Safety Communications / Dispatch
🔒 Corrections
🌲 Wildland Fire
🌪️Emergency Management
🏛️ Federal Public Safety Organizations
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‍Scope and Limits
The National Standard establishes nationally consistent organizational expectations, applies established occupational safety principles to predictable occupational psychological hazard exposure, and establishes a governance framework for workforce protection.
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The National Standard does not establish clinical standards, prescribe treatment, prescribe behavioral health programs, require specific implementation methods, require the purchase of any product or service, evaluate individual workforce members, make fitness-for-duty determinations, or maintain employee medical records.
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Conformity
Organizations determine their own conformity with the Standard by self-assessment, in accordance with Chapter 3. That determination is sufficient on its own and depends on no fee, no purchase, and no third party. FRBH does not perform conformity assessment, certification, or accreditation of any organization and does not operate such a program.
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‍ LEARN ABOUT CONFORMITY→

Standards Governance and Development Status
The FRBH Board of Directors is the standards adoption authority and approved Version 3.0 on July 24, 2026. The National Advisory Council, a multidisciplinary non-voting body, contributes subject-matter expertise to development and refinement. Version 3.0 is designated a Provisional Field-Test Edition. It is the first edition released outside FRBH, and it has not completed an open multi-stakeholder consensus process.
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Comments are accepted at info@frbh.org, and are welcome from organizations that do not intend to adopt this edition.
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Implementation Support
General implementation guidance supporting voluntary implementation is available at no charge through the National Technical Assistance Center.
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‍VISIT NTAC→