Tag: #respiratoryprotection

Employers: Do your workers use respirators? NIOSH wants to know

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
respirator.jpg
Image: U.S. Navy

Washington — NIOSH wants to update its estimate of the number of organizations and workers who use respirators – and evaluate the reasons behind their use.

The Survey of Respirator Use and Practices marks NIOSH’s first effort to collect national, industrywide data on respiratory protection since 2001. In a press release, NIOSH cites a need to update its Respirator Approval Program, as awareness and use of respirators has expanded amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.

“Respirators offer workers and the public protection from hazards such as those created when providing health care to patients, using harsh chemicals for cleaning or manufacturing, or fighting wildland or structural fires,” Maryann D’Alessandro, director of NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, said in the release. “We encourage all businesses to complete the survey about their respirator use and practices. This information is critical to informing future research and development within NIOSH’s Respirator Approval Program.”

NIOSH plans to begin contacting employers regarding the survey on Nov. 2. Questions? Email ODAdmin@cdc.gov.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

MSHA will extend comment period for proposed changes to standards to better protect miners from hazardous silica dust levels

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Comment period extended to Sept. 11, 2023

WASHINGTON– The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration will extend the public comment period on proposed amendments to existing federal standards that protect the nation’s miners from health hazards related to workplace exposure of respirable crystalline silica, or silica dust.

MSHA will extend the comment period from Aug. 28, 2023 to Sept. 11, 2023, adding 15 days to the process. The extension responds to requests from the mining community and other interested parties for additional time to develop and submit comments on the proposal. The agency received and considered requests to extend and to not further delay the comment period.

“Several interested parties requested that the Department of Labor provide additional time to prepare and submit comments. Upon careful consideration, we have decided to extend the comment period for 15 days and to promptly provide notice of the extension to the mining community,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson.

The agency published the notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on July 13, 2023.

The proposed change will ensure miners have at least the same level of protections as workers in other industries. It would require mine operators to maintain miners’ Permissible Exposure Limit to respirable crystalline silica at or below 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air for a full shift exposure, calculated as an 8-hour time weighted average. If a miner’s exposure exceeds the limit, the proposed rule would require operators to take immediate corrective actions to come into compliance.

In addition to reducing the existing exposure limit, the proposal also includes other requirements to protect miners’ health — such as exposure sampling — and medical surveillance at no cost for metal and nonmetal miners. It would also replace existing outdated requirements for respiratory protection with a standard that reflects the latest advances in respiratory protection technologies and practices.

Read the comment period extension notice.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by MSHA

Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge: NIOSH announces Phase 1 winners

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Washington — NIOSH has selected 20 winning entries for the initial phase of its Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge.

Respirator Fit Evaluation
Photo: NIOSH

The three-phase challenge “seeks practical solutions that deliver real-time information on filtering facepiece respirators.”

For Phase 1, individuals or teams submitted a paper that outlines concepts for delivering “immediate evaluation and feedback to end users about the fit of filtering facepiece respirators.”

The winning entries include Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), infrared imagery and thermal monitoring, fabric-based sensor networks, light sensing (LED), and an app combining artificial intelligence and facial recognition.

Each Phase 1 winner is awarded $5,000 – part of a total award sum of $350,000.

For Phase 2, the winning teams will design prototypes based on their submitted concept papers. NIOSH will award up to 10 prizes – part of a $100,000 purse – to help the teams build preproduction prototypes, which will be evaluated during the final phase of the challenge.

“Respirators are crucial to protect workers and the public from various respiratory hazards, including airborne infectious agents and wildfire smoke,” Maryann D’Alessandro, director of NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, said in the release. “Many small or disadvantaged workplaces, however, lack the resources for fit testing, and workers at these underserved workplaces and the general public often wear respirators without knowing if they fit properly and provide the expected level of protection. The challenge aims to address these issues.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

 

Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by Safety+Health

NIOSH offering $350K in prize money

Photo: NIOSH

Washington — Do you have an idea for improving fit testing of respirators? NIOSH is offering $350,000 in total prize money as part of its Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge.

“While OSHA requires annual fit testing for all employees who must wear a respirator, research has shown that small or disadvantaged workplaces may not have the resources to conduct initial and annual respirator fit testing,” NIOSH says. “Additionally, the public now wears tight-fitting respirators, such as N95 filtering facepiece respirators, more than ever for protection from hazards such as infectious diseases, pollution or wildfire smoke without knowing whether they provide adequate protection.”

During the first phase of the challenge, individuals or teams must submit a concept paper of 10 pages or fewer outlining an idea on how to improve fit testing. The submission deadline is May 1. Up to 20 participants or teams will be eligible to win $5,000 each while advancing to Phase 2.

Anyone interested in participating must register on the challenge website. An orientation webinar is slated for Feb. 2, allowing participants to ask questions and get additional information.

“Fit testing is vital to ensure a respirator wearer is receiving the expected level of protection and is wearing a correctly fitting model and size,” Maryann D’Alessandro, director of NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, said in the release. “We hope this challenge helps us identify a practical solution that delivers users, whether in a workplace or not, immediate information on a respirator’s fit.

“This challenge provides an opportunity for innovators to develop a solution that can improve the safety and health of everyone who wears a filtering facepiece respirator. NIOSH looks forward to receiving novel ideas to improve respirator fit testing through this challenge.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Respiratory protection

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

NIOSH publishes toolbox talk

NIOSH respiratory protection

Photo: NIOSH

Washington — Knowing how to select, use and maintain NIOSH-approved respirators can help promote proper respiratory protection practices and protect construction workers from unsafe airborne contaminants, according to a new toolbox talk published by the agency.

NIOSH encourages employers to examine all avenues to reduce worker exposure to potentially dangerous dusts and fumes.

Among the first steps should be to try to eliminate or replace the hazard, implement engineering controls (e.g., local exhaust ventilation), or implement administrative controls (e.g., rotating workers between hazardous tasks). When these controls aren’t feasible or are insufficient in reducing harmful exposures, respiratory protection must be properly selected and users must be fit tested. Workers also must be trained and follow both employer and manufacturer instructions for proper use, inspection, maintenance and storage of respiratory protection devices. This includes proper donning and doffing of devices.

The agency reminds employers that they’re responsible for providing NIOSH-approved respirators as necessary to protect worker health, as required by OSHA in its standards on respiratory protection.

Among the types of devices that can be used to protect workers are filtering facepiece respirators; elastomeric half-mask respirators; and half-mask, full-facepiece and hood/helmet powered air-purifying respirators. For any employer providing respirators, the process must include direction from an OSHA-required written respiratory protection program.

NIOSH’s respiratory protection webpage features answers to nearly 20 frequently asked questions.

In addition, NIOSH sets recommended exposure limits for airborne contaminants and OSHA mandates legal enforceable permissible exposure limits, with which employers are required to comply.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

N95 respirator approval, fit testing and efficiency: New fact sheets from NIOSH

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First published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

N 95 masks

Washington — NIOSH has issued a pair of fact sheets on filtering facepiece respirators, detailing how to tell if an N95 is approved by the agency as well as procedures for fit testing and testing filtration efficiency.

With an NIOSH-approved respirator, “you can be confident that it is working as expected” as long as it is properly maintained, is worn and used correctly, fits properly, and is replaced as recommended by the manufacturer.

“NIOSH only approves respirators that pass its strict quality assurance and performance requirements,” the agency says. During its tests, NIOSH uses a “near worst-case penetrating aerosol size (i.e., particles that are best able to make it through a filter).” An N95 respirator must block at least 95% of those particles, which typically measure at 0.3 microns in diameter.

The fact sheet on fit testing and filtration efficiency testing covers the types of fit tests: qualitative and quantitative. It also includes a short checklist to ensure an N95 is protecting the user.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Respiratory Protection Week set for Sept. 7-10

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
First published by Safety+Health an NSC publication
respiratory_protection_week.jpeg
Photo: NIOSH

 NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory has marked Sept. 7-10 as its annual Respiratory Protection Week, an event intended to promote proper respiratory protection practices through the sharing of related research findings and educational tools.

In 2019, NIOSH expanded N95 Day, which had been observed since 2012, into Respiratory Protection Week.

As organizations continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, NIOSH says it has remained focused on developing information products to address frequently asked questions related to respiratory protection and personal protective equipment.

“This extraordinary time emphasizes the importance of respiratory protection and PPE,” NPPTL Director Maryann D’Alessandro said in a press release. “We are excited to spread awareness on this topic, spotlight our valuable resources and provide insight into our vision regarding the future of PPE.”

NIOSH is set to host separate one-hour webinars:

For more information, follow updates from @NIOSH_NPPTL on Twitter.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

NIOSH approves first elastomeric half-mask respirator without an exhalation valve

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
NIOSH-logo.jpg

First published by Safety+Health an NSC publication.

Washington — NIOSH has approved – for both personal protection and source control – the first elastomeric half-mask respirator without an exhalation valve.

In a Nov. 16 agency news brief, NIOSH acknowledges concerns that filtering facepiece respirators and EHMRs with exhalation valves “may allow unfiltered exhaled air to escape into the environment,” compromising the equipment’s effectiveness to protect others if the wearer has COVID-19.

NIOSH notes that exhalation in EHMRs without exhalation valves is possible because the equipment’s particulate filters meet agency requirements, “thereby allowing it to also serve as a means of source control since it will maintain the high level of filtration upon exhalation.”

NIOSH published in the Sept. 14 Federal Register a Request for Information on the deployment and use of EHMRs in health care settings and emergency medical services organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial comment period was slated to end Oct. 14, but the agency extended it to Dec. 14.

Noting EHMRs’ low cost, ease of use, and ability to be cleaned and decontaminated, NIOSH anticipates the widespread use of the respirators will ease the demand for single-use N95 respirators in health care settings that are experiencing high numbers of COVID-19 cases.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

‘Extremely hazardous’: Alert warns against using ethylene oxide to sterilize masks, respirators

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: nanthm/iStockphoto

Tumwater, WA — Ethylene oxide should not be used to sterilize filtering facepiece respirators for reuse because “this extremely hazardous toxic chemical poses a severe risk to human health,” the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries warns in a new alert.

Citing the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington L&I cautions health care employers and other who sterilize respirators for reuse that ethylene oxide is a carcinogen that “has been linked to neurologic dysfunction and may cause other harmful effects” to the eyes, lungs, brain and nervous system. Further, prolonged exposure could lead to increased risk of reproductive issues and some cancers.

Washington L&I notes that ethylene oxide sterilization systems have not been approved by federal OSHA for personal protective equipment, and evidence suggests using one could result in off-gassing of ethylene oxide in the wearer’s breathing zone.

Although hospitals and clinics are required to use their ethylene oxide sterilizer systems for their intended and manufacturer-approved purposes, they “must NOT be used to sterilize masks, respirators, PPE or items worn by humans,” the alert states.

A shortage of N95 and other filtering facepiece respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic has led some health care facilities to sterilize PPE so it can be reused. In April, the National Institutes of Health recommended three effective methods for sanitizing N95 respirators for limited reuse: vaporized hydrogen peroxide, 70° C dry heat and ultraviolet light.

PPE users should refer to the CDC guidance on optimizing N95 respirator supplies and the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorizations regarding PPE for COVID-19, the alert adds.

OSHA allowing all employers to suspend annual respirator fit testing

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

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Photo: Memorystockphoto/iStockphoto

Washington — OSHA is extending its temporary leniency on annual respirator fit testing to all covered employers, not only those in the health care industry.

According to an April 8 press release, the agency is directing its field offices to exercise “enforcement discretion” on fit-testing regulations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance will remain in effect until further notice.

OSHA issued a memo March 14 stating the agency is allowing health care employers to suspend annual fit testing, in large part, to contend with a nationwide shortage of N95 filtering facepiece respirators.

Employers must still make “good-faith efforts” to comply with OSHA’s respiratory protection regulations, among other steps, including communicating to workers whether annual fit testing is suspended temporarily. The agency also is asking organizations to look at their engineering controls, work practices and administrative controls for any changes that could decrease the need for N95s or other filtering facepiece respirators. Among the suggestions are increasing the use of wet methods, use of portable local exhaust systems, moving work outdoors or suspending non-essential operations.

In response to concerns about a shortage of fit-testing kits and test solutions, OSHA advises employers to reserve fit-testing equipment for workers using respirators for “high-hazard procedures.” Field offices are asked to perform additional enforcement discretion if an employer switches a worker’s respirator to an equivalent-fitting make/model/style/size N95 or other filtering facepiece respirator without performing an initial fit test.