OSHA’s New Respiratory Protection Standard

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the federal organization responsible for ensuring safe and healthy working conditions for Americans by enforcing standards and providing workplace safety training. The organization is empowered to pass rules directing employers to implement safety precautions that meet standards they have set. OSHA may also require special workplace training, the prominent posting of safety-related notices, and can conduct investigations where it appears that violations may have occurred.

New Rules

OSHA passed a rule which clarifies, updates and strengthens OSHA’s previous respiratory protection standard which was adopted by the agency in 1971 and has remained essentially unchanged since that time. The revised standard replaces the existing standard and will be published in the next edition of the Code of Federal Regulations as 29 CFR § 1910.34. It should also be noted that § 1910.139 will be redesignated as Respiratory Protection for M-Tuberculosis and will apply only to respiratory protection against M-Tuberculosis in lieu of § 1910.134.

Compliance with the revised standard requires employers in general industry, construction, shipyards, marine terminals, and longshoring operations to determine by September 8, 1998 whether respirator use is required to protect employees from work place hazards. Compliance with all other provisions of the standard is to be completed no later than October 5, 1998.

The Rule’s Scope

It should be noted that under OSHA the category of "general industry" is very broad and applies to any employer whose employees are subject to biological or chemical exposures which would require respirator protection. The preamble of the new rule also states that the revised standard will apply to railroad workers unless the Federal Railroad Administration exercises statutory authority to issue a separate respiratory standard for those workers.

Generally, OSHA requires respirators to be used to protect employee health in situations where engineering controls and work practices are not feasible, where such controls have not yet been instituted, in emergencies, or where such controls are not sufficient by themselves to protect the health of employees. However, as with the previous standard, OSHA stipulates that the prevention of atmospheric contamination caused by "harmful dust, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays or vapors" shall be accomplished to the extent feasible by the use of engineering controls. According to this hierarchy, engineering controls are the preferred method of compliance for protecting employees from airborne contaminants and are to be implemented first, before respiratory protection is used.

New Requirements

Although some provisions of the respiratory protection standard remain unchanged, many provisions have been added or substantially expanded. New or substantially expanded provisions include requirements for a written respiratory protection program, medical evaluation requirements, respiratory selection criteria, training requirements, program evaluation requirements and record-keeping requirements. Additionally, the standard identifies four appendices that supplement the requirements specified in the regulatory texts: Appendices A (fit testing procedures), B-1 (user seal check procedures), B-2 (cleaning procedures), and C (medical questionnaire) are mandatory. Appendix D, Information for Employees using Respirators when not Required under the Standard, is not mandatory and is not intended to create any additional obligation not otherwise imposed or to detract from any existing obligations.