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Respiratory Protection |
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OSHA Standards |
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Respiratory protection hazards are addressed in specific
standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals,
longshoring, and the construction industry. This page
highlights OSHA standards, the Regulatory Agenda (a list of actions being taken with regard to OSHA
standards), preambles to final rules (background to final rules), Federal
Registers (rules, proposed rules, and notices), directives (instructions for
compliance officers), standard interpretations (official letters of
interpretation of the standards) and publications related to respiratory
protection.
Section
5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, often referred to as the General Duty Clause,
requires employers to "furnish to each of his employees employment and a
place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or
are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees". Section
5(a)(2) requires employers to "comply with occupational safety and
health standards promulgated under this Act".
Note:
Twenty-four states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved
State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement
policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are
identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted
different standards applicable to this topic or may have different
enforcement policies. |
OSHA's revised Respiratory Protection Standard (29
CFR 1910.134 and 29
CFR 1926.103) went into effect April 8, 1998. The final standard replaces the respiratory protection standards adopted by OSHA
in 1971. The 29 CFR 1910.139 respirator standard that applied only
to respiratory protection against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis was withdrawn
December 31, 2003. Establishments whose respirator protection programs for
tuberculosis formerly covered under 29 CFR 1910.139 were required to adapt their
programs to comply with the requirements of 29 CFR
1910.134, effective July 2,
2004.
Highlighted Standards
General Industry (29
CFR 1910)
- 1910 Subpart I,
Personal protective equipment
-
1910.134, Respiratory protection
- Appendix
A, Fit testing procedures (Mandatory)
- Appendix B-1, User
seal check procedures (Mandatory)
- Appendix B-2, Respiratory
cleaning procedures (Mandatory)
- Appendix C, OSHA
respirator medical evaluation questionnaire (Mandatory)
- Appendix D, Information for
employees using respirators when not required under standard
(Mandatory)
- The following standards include respiratory protection elements that may be affected by the revised standard
29 CFR 1910.134.
- 1910 Subpart L,
Fire protection
- 1910 Subpart Z,
Toxic and hazardous substances [related
topic page]
- 1910.1000, Air
contaminants
- 1910.1001,
Asbestos [related
topic page]
- 1910.1017, Vinyl
chloride
- 1910.1018, Inorganic
arsenic [related
topic page]
- 1910.1025,
Lead
[related topic page]
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1910.1026,
Chromium (VI)
- 1910.1027,
Cadmium
[related topic page]
- 1910.1028,
Benzene
[related topic page]
- 1910.1029, Coke
oven emissions
- 1910.1044,
1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane
- 1910.1045,
Acrylonitrile
- 1910.1047, Ethylene
oxide [related
topic page]
- 1910.1048,
Formaldehyde
[related topic
page]
- 1910.1050,
Methylenedianiline
- 1910.1051,
1,3-butadiene
[related topic page]
- 1910.1052, Methylene
chloride
Shipyard Employment (29
CFR 1915)
Marine Terminals (29
CFR 1917)
Longshoring (29
CFR 1918)
Construction (29
CFR 1926)
Regulatory Agenda
Preambles to Final Rules
Federal Registers
-
Assigned Protection Factors; Final Rule. Final Rules
71:50121-50192, (2006, August 24). Revises the existing Respiratory Protection
Standard to add definitions and requirements for Assigned
Protection Factors (APFs) and Maximum Use Concentrations (MUCs).
The revisions also supersede the respirator selection provisions
of existing substance-specific standards with these new APFs
(except for the respirator selection provisions of the
1,3-Butadiene Standard).
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Assigned Protection Factors. Proposed Rules 69:16510-16511, (2004, March 30).
Extends the
deadline for receipt of post-hearing public comments and briefs on
its proposed "Assigned Protection Factors" rule.
- Assigned Protection Factors; Proposed
Rule.
Proposed Rules 68:34035-34119, (2003, June 6), 2 MB
PDF, 85 pages. Seeks to revise the
existing Respiratory Protection Standard to add definitions and
specific requirements for assigned protection factors (APFs) and
maximum use concentrations (MUCs).
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Controlled Negative Pressure REDON Fit Testing Protocol.
Proposed Rules 68:33887-33894, (2003, June 6). Proposes to approve an additional controlled negative
pressure (CNP) fit testing protocol for its Respiratory Protection
Standard.
- Occupational
Exposure to Tuberculosis; Proposed Rule; Termination of
Rulemaking Respiratory Protection for M. Tuberculosis; Final
Rule; Revocation. Proposed Rules 68:75767-75775, (2003,
December 31). OSHA withdrew its 1997 proposed
standard on Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis (TB) because
it was unlikely to result in a meaningful reduction of disease
transmission caused by contact with the most significant
remaining source of occupational risk exposure to individuals
with undiagnosed and unsuspected TB.
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Respiratory Protection Standard; Extension of the Office of
Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of the
Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements. Notice 66:22016-22017, (2001, May 2).
Solicits comments concerning its proposal to decrease the existing
burden-hour estimates, and to extend the Office of Management and
Budget's (OMB) approval of the collection-of-information
requirements of the Respiratory Protection Standard.
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42 CFR Part 84 Respiratory Protective Devices. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (1995,
June 2). Provides a technical summary of the above
rule.
- Search all available Federal
Registers.
Directives
Standard Interpretations
- Tuberculosis
and Respiratory Protection. (2004, July 30). Defines the new enforcement policy for tuberculosis under 29 CFR
1910.134.
Effective July 2, 2004, covered establishments must comply with 29
CFR 1910.134
when using respirators for protection from tuberculosis (TB).
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Respiratory protection requirements for hospital staff decontaminating
chemically contaminated patients. (2002, September 5).
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Preemption of respiratory protection standard by DOT's Office of Pipeline Safety regulations.
(1999, April 8).
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Clarification of the medical evaluation provisions of the revised respiratory
protection standard. (1998, November 16).
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Questions and answers regarding the respiratory protection standard. (1998, October 16).
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Medical evaluation requirements under the respiratory protection standard.
(1998, October 5).
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Conduct of respiratory protection medical evaluations by medical technicians.
(1998, October 16).
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The OSHA interpretation of respiratory protection requirements with regards to
tuberculosis (TB) exposure. (1996, February 5).
- Search all available standard
interpretations.
Publications
- Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Respiratory Protection Standard (CFR 1910.134). OSHA
Publication 9071, (1999). Also available as a 706 KB
PDF, 149 pages.
Helps small businesses comply with the new Respiratory Protection Standard. A sample respiratory protection program is included in Appendix IV.
- Questions and Answers on the Respiratory Protection Standard. OSHA, (1998, August 17), 242 KB
PDF, 82 pages.
Provides questions
and answers relating to each paragraph of the Respiratory Protection Standard. A Spanish translation of the Medical Questionnaire (Appendix C) is included at the end of the document.
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