HEALTH AND SAFETYOSHA Amends Respiratory Standard WASHINGTON - A final rule amending the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) respiratory protection standard to establish definitions and specific requirements for assigned protection factors (APFs) and maximum use concentrations (MUCs) for respirators was published in the Aug. 24, 2006
Federal Register. APFs are numerical ratings given to different types of respirators that tell users how much protection the respirator can provide. MUCs define the maximum gas or vapor concentration for which a given respirator can be used. The final rule will amend 29 C.F.R. 1910.134(d)(3)(i)(A) of OSHA's respiratory protection standard by specifying a set of APFs for each class of respirator. The APFs will apply to respirators used to protect against overexposure to any substance regulated under 29 C.F.R. 1910.1000. The Agency says the revisions supersede respirator selection provisions in existing substance-specific standards under 1910 Subpart Z for toxic and hazardous substances, except for the 1,3-butadiene standard. The rule will be effective 90 days after it is published. The APF rule was proposed June 6, 2003 (33 OSHR 566, 6/12/03. Employers will have to follow the new requirements and use APFs to select appropriate respirators based on the exposure limits and levels of the contaminant in the workplace. If a contaminant is expected to exceed the respirator's MUC, a respirator with a higher APF must be chosen, says OSHA. "This standard helps employers and employees select the right respirator for the job," says OSHA Administrator Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "And with the right respirator, employees will have adequate protection to be safe and healthy at work."
Based on various factors OSHA said that it developed the final rule "through a multi-faceted approach" after reviewing the available literature, including chamber-simulation studies and workplace protection factor studies, comments submitted to the record, and hearing testimony. The APF rule will provide employers with information to use when selecting respirators for employees who are exposed to atmospheric contaminants in general industry, construction and marine workplaces, OSHA said. The supplementary information accompanying the final rule said that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has agreed that the APF values in OSHA's approach "provide reasonable values for the level of protection expected for each respirator class." However, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a federal agency under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cautioned that designating an APF to a specific respirator does not ensure that a respirator will perform as expected. Respiratory protection, NIOSH states, is contingent on adhering to the program requirements of OSHA's respiratory protection standard, using NIOSH-certified respirators in their approved configuration and fit-testing each employee to ensure proper respirator selection. NIOSH has developed its own
respirator selection logic (RSL), which was revised in October 2004 (34 OSHR 1102, 11/4/04). The APFs used by NIOSH in the RSL are based on quantitative fit factor data developed by Los Alamos National Laboratories and laboratory and field data gathered by NIOSH and others.
Costs and Benefits OSHA estimates that the rule would require almost 2,000 users of non-powered air purifying respirators to upgrade to a more expensive respirator at a cost of $1.8 million. Approximately, 22,900 users of powered air-purifying respirators would have to upgrade their respirators at a cost of $2.3 million, and 5,110 users of supplied-air respirators would have to upgrade to more expensive respirators at a cost of $0.4 million. Benefits of the rule include reducing worker exposures to respiratory hazards. Nearly 30,000 employees would have a higher degree of respiratory protection under the APF standard, the rule states. Benefits for employers include easier compliance with the respirator rule, greater administrative ease in proper respirator selection, and simplified decision-making for determining the best respirator choice, OSHA said. Employers may also be able to make respirator choices on their own without having to hire consultants to do so. OSHA issued a final respiratory protection standard on Jan. 8, 1998, replacing regulations that were first adopted in 1971. The final rule deferred action on APFs and MUCs (27 OSHR 1140, 1/14/98). For more information on technical inquiries, contact John E. Steelnack, OSHA Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Room N-3718, Labor Department, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210; 202-693-2289. For general inquiries, contact Kevin Ropp, OSHA Office of Public Affairs, Room N-3647, at the same address; 202-693-1999.
(Source: Bureau of National
Affairs, OSHA) 
