105 CMR 120.233 - Use of Individual Respiratory Protection Equipment
If the licensee or registrant uses respiratory protection equipment to limit intakes pursuant to 105 CMR 120.232:
(A) Except as provided in 105 CMR
120.233(A)(2), the licensee or registrant shall use only respiratory protection
equipment that is tested and certified by the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health.
(B)
If the licensee or registrant wishes to use equipment that has not been tested
or certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety, or for which
there is no schedule for testing or certification, the licensee shall submit an
application to the Agency for authorization to use this equipment, except as
otherwise noted in 105 CMR 120.200. The application must include evidence that
the material and performance characteristics of the equipment are capable of
providing the proposed degree of protection under anticipated conditions of
use. This must be demonstrated either by the licensee's or registrant's testing
or on the basis of reliable test information;
(C) The licensee or registrant shall
implement and maintain a respiratory protection program that includes:
(1) air sampling sufficient to identify the
potential hazard, permit proper equipment selection, and estimate
doses;
(2) surveys and bioassays,
as necessary, to evaluate actual intakes;
(3) testing of respirators for operability
user seal check for face sealing devices and functional check for others
immediately prior to each use;
(4)
written procedures regarding:
(a) Monitoring,
including air sampling and bioassays;
(b) Supervision and training or respirator
users;
(c) Fit testing;
(d) Respirator selection;
(e) Breathing air quality;
(f) Inventory and control;
(g) Storage, issuance, maintenance, repair,
testing, and quality assurance of respiratory protection equipment;
(h) Recordkeeping; and,
(i) Limitations on periods of respirator use
and relief from respirator use.
(5) determination by a physician that the
individual user is medically fit to use the respiratory protection equipment
before:
(a) The initial fitting of a face
sealing respirator;
(b) Before the
first field use of non-face sealing respirators, and
(c) Either every 12 months thereafter, or
periodically at a frequency determined by a physician.
(6) Fit testing, with a fit factor ; 10 times
the APF for negative pressure devices, and a fit factor ; 500 for any positive
pressure, continuous flow, and pressure-demand devices, before the first field
use of tight fitting, face sealing respirators and periodically thereafter at a
frequency not to exceed one year. Fit testing must be performed with the face
piece operating in the negative pressure mode.
(D) The licensee or registrant shall advise
each respirator user that the user may leave the area at any time for relief
from respirator use in the event of equipment malfunction, physical or
psychological distress, procedural or communication failure, significant
deterioration of operating conditions, or any other conditions that might
require such relief.
(E) The
licensee or registrant shall also consider limitations appropriate to the type
and mode of use. When selecting respiratory devices the licensee or registrant
shall provide for vision correction, adequate communication, low temperature
work environments and the concurrent use of other safety or radiological
protection equipment. The licensee or registrant shall use equipment in such a
way as not to interfere with the proper operation of the respirator.
(F) Standby rescue persons are required
whenever one-piece atmosphere-supplying suits, or any combination of supplied
air respiratory protection device and personnel protective equipment are used
from which an unaided individual would have difficulty extricating himself or
herself. The standby persons must be equipped with respiratory protection
devices or other apparatus appropriate for the potential hazards. The standby
rescue persons shall observe or otherwise maintain continuous communication
with the workers (visual, voice, signal line, telephone, radio, or other
suitable means), and be immediately available to assist them in case of a
failure of the air supply or for any other reason that requires relief from
distress. A sufficient number of standby rescue persons must be immediately
available to assist all users of this type of equipment and to provide
effective emergency rescue if needed.
(G) Atmosphere-supplying respirators must be
supplied with respirable air of grade D quality or better as defined by the
Compressed Gas Association in publication G-7.1, "Commodity Specification for
Air," 1997 and included in the regulations of the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (
29 CFR
1910.134(i)(1)(ii)(A) through
(E). Grade D quality air criteria include:
(1) Oxygen content (v/v) of
19.5-23.5%;
(2) Hydrocarbon
(condensed) content of 5 milligrams per cubic meter of air or less;
(3) Carbon Monoxide (CO) content of 10 ppm or
less;
(4) Carbon Dioxide content of
1,000 ppm or less; and,
(5) Lack of
noticeable odor
(H) The
licensee shall ensure that no objects, materials or substances, such as facial
hair, or any conditions that interfere with the face-face piece seal or valve
function, and that are under the control of the wearer, are present between the
skin of the wearer's face and the sealing surface of a tight-fitting respirator
face piece.
(I) In estimating the
dose to individuals from intake of airborne radioactive materials, the
concentration of radioactive material in the air that is inhaled when
respirators are worn is initially assumed to be the ambient concentration in
air without the respiratory protection, divided by the assigned protection
factor. If the dose is later found to be greater than the estimated dose, the
corrected value must be used. If the dose is later found to be less than the
estimated dose, the corrected value may be used.
Notes
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No prior version found.