Page 18 - Occupational Health & Safety, May 2017

RESPIRATORY PROTECTION
Many facets of respiratory protection regulations
and standards are constantly being updated and/
or reviewed.
OSHA updated its respirator standard in 1998, 29 CFR 1910.134, and has had some updates since then on various ele- ments of the standard. Fit testing, ensuring that a respirator fits on an individual user, is a critical element of a comprehensive respi- ratory program. These programs are mandatory when employers require their employees to wear any type of respiratory protection.
Fit testing can be a time-consuming process. OSHA is consider- ing some methods that will speed up the process of fit testing but still ensure that users are properly fitted with a particular respirator.
ANSI/ASSE has several respirator standards that must be re- affirmed every five years. The overarching ANSI standard for re- spiratory protection is Practices for Respiratory Protection, Z88.2. This standard sets forth minimally accepted practices for occu- pational respirator use. It is very in depth and provides guidance that could be used above and beyond regulatory requirements. Z88.2 was last updated in 2015; there is also Z88.6, Respiratory Protection—Respiratory Use—Physical Qualifications for Person- nel. Much of this standard deals with the medical evaluation of respirator users. Z88.6 was last updated in 2006 and is overdue for a rewrite or reaffirmation.
Respirator Fit Testing Methods, Z88.10, provides clear and consistent guidance on the necessary components to perform fit
testing as part of a comprehensive respiratory protection program. Z88.10 was last updated in 2010. The three other standards that are currently in process, or soon to be in process, are Respiratory Fit Capability, Z88.15; Assigned Protection Factors, Z88.16; and Ter- minology, Z88.7.
In summary, respiratory protection is a vital component in protecting workers’ health. Although many employers and users don’t think about it, there are many facets of respiratory protection regulations and standards that are constantly being updated and/ or reviewed.
There are many sources of information that can be accessed by users and employers to see what is going on. Below are some of the websites that one should consider when using respiratory protec- tion or to evaluate what the latest issues are:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/respirators/default.html
For these sites the best search word is “respirator”
https://www.osha.gov http://www.fda.gov http://www.nfpa.org http://ansi.org
For this site, the best search word is “SNUR”
https://www.epa.gov
Jeffrey Birkner, Ph.D., CIH, is VP-Technical Services for Moldex- Metric, Inc., a leading manufacturer of hearing and respiratory pro- tection equipment. For more information, visit www.moldex.com.
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