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U.S. Department of Labor | |
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| Occupational Safety & Health Administration | ||||||
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OSHA News Release
2003 - 12/30/2003 - OSHA Withdraws Proposal on Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis |
OSHA News Release - Table of Contents |
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OSHA Trade Release December 30, 2003 Contact: Bill Wright Phone: (202) 693-1999 OSHA Withdraws Proposal on Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis
Respiratory protection for TB enhanced through use of the general industry standard WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it is extending the same high level of respiratory protection to workers exposed to tuberculosis that is provided to workers throughout general industry. This enhancement results from OSHA's decision to withdraw its 1997 proposal on tuberculosis. Both announcements will be published in tomorrow's Federal Register. "Since 1993, the number of tuberculosis cases in the United States has declined by more than 40 percent due, in large part, to the success of guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)," said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. "This is especially true in high-risk workplaces such as hospitals where TB cases are diagnosed, treated and isolated. Given these positive results, it's appropriate to let CDC continue the successful work it is doing, and focus our resources on reducing workplace hazards that are not being addressed through other control efforts. In addition, based on our extensive review of the issues related to respiratory protection, workers exposed to tuberculosis should have the same protections as those exposed to other types of hazards in the workplace." When the general industry respiratory protection standard was promulgated in 1998, OSHA announced that it would wait until the conclusion of the tuberculosis rulemaking to decide whether to apply that standard to workers exposed to tuberculosis or to include TB specific procedures in a tuberculosis rule. Those workers remained under a 1974 standard in the interim. Enforcement of the new requirements will be phased in to allow affected employers to come into compliance. OSHA published a proposed standard on Oct. 17, 1997, to control occupational exposure to tuberculosis. It was estimated at that time that a standard would protect roughly 5.3 million workers in more than 100,000 hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and other work settings with a significant risk of TB infection. Since the proposal, however, a number of factors have emerged that alleviate the necessity of developing a TB-specific regulation. In addition to the decrease in the number of TB cases nationwide, OSHA has concluded that occupational risk is lower than originally reflected because of greater implementation of TB controls and greater compliance with CDC's guidelines; and a rule would not substantially reduce the spread of TB from undiagnosed sources. With OSHA's withdrawal of the TB proposal, the agency will begin applying the general industry respiratory protection standard for protection against the disease. New requirements include updating the facility's respirator program, complying with amended medical evaluation requirements, annual fit testing of respirators, and some training and recordkeeping provisions. "We recognize that continued vigilance is necessary. We will enforce the respiratory protection standard and other relevant requirements when employers fail to protect their workers against TB exposure," said Henshaw. "We will continue to promote TB control through cooperative relationships with affected parties, public health experts and other government agencies and also provide guidance to workplaces where the risk of the disease may be elevated, such as Federal prisons and immigration facilities." OSHA is dedicated to assuring worker safety and health. Safety and health add value to business, the workplace and life. For more information, visit www.osha.gov. ###
This news release text is on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov. Information on this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 693-1999. |
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