Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0400-20-05-.92 - USE OF INDIVIDUAL RESPIRATORY PROTECTION EQUIPMENT
(1) If the licensee assigns or permits the
use of respiratory protection equipment to limit intakes pursuant to Rule
0400-20-05-.91:
(a) The licensee shall use
only respiratory protection equipment that is tested and certified or had
certification extended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health/Mine Safety and Health Administration (NIOSH/MSHA), except as otherwise
noted in this chapter.
(b) A
licensee desiring to use equipment that has not been tested or certified by
NIOSH, or for which there is no schedule for testing or certification, shall
apply for authorization except as provided in this chapter. The application
shall demonstrate by licensee testing or on the basis of reliable test
information, that the equipment's material and performance characteristics
provide protection equivalent to that of the equipment in subparagraph (a) of
this paragraph under anticipated conditions of use.
(c) The licensee 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
appropriate, to evaluate actual intakes;
3. Testing of respirators for operability
(user seal check for face sealing devices and functional check for other)
immediately before each use;
4.
Written procedures regarding:
(i) The routine,
non-routine and emergency use of respirators,
(ii) Respirator selection,
(iii) Fit testing,
(iv) Limitations on periods of respirator use
and relief from respirator use,
(v)
Storage, issuance, maintenance, repair, testing and quality assurance of
respiratory protection equipment, including testing for operability immediately
before each use;
(vi) Supervision
and training of respirator users;
(vii) Monitoring, including air sampling and
bioassays;
(viii) Breathing air
quality;
(ix) Inventory and
control;
(x) Record keeping;
and
(xi) The use of process or
other engineering controls, instead of respirators;
5. Determination by a physician that the
individual user is medically fit to use the respiratory protection equipment
before:
(i) The initial fitting of a
face-sealing respirator;
(ii) The
first field use of non-face-sealing respirators; and
(iii) Either every 12 months thereafter or
periodically at a frequency determined by a physician;
6. Fit testing, with 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 1 year. Fit testing must be performed
with the facepiece operating in the negative pressure mode.
(d) The licensee 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's use of
the equipment shall not exceed the equipment's specifications. The licensee
shall provide proper visual, communication and other special capabilities (such
as adequate skin protection) when needed.
(f) The licensee shall also consider
limitations appropriate to the type and mode of use. When selecting respiratory
devices the licensee shall provide for vision correction , adequate
communication, low temperature work environments and the concurrent use of
other safety or radiological protection equipment. The licensee shall use
equipment in such a way as not to interfere with the proper operation of the
respirator.
(g) 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 shall 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
shall be immediately available to assist all users of this type of equipment
and to provide effective emergency rescue if needed.
(h) Atmosphere-supplying respirators shall 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.
(i) The
licensee shall ensure that no objects, materials or substances, such as facial
hair, or any conditions that interfere with the face -- facepiece seal or valve
function, and that are under the control of the respirator wearer, are present
between the skin of the wearer's face and the sealing surface of a
tight-fitting respirator facepiece.
(j) 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 respiratory protection,
divided by the assigned protection factor. If the dose is later found to be
greater than the estimated dose, the corrected value shall be used. If the dose
is later found to be less than the estimated dose, the corrected value may be
used.
(2) In estimating
an individual's exposure to airborne radioactive materials, the licensee may
make allowance for respiratory protection equipment used to limit intakes
pursuant to Rule 0400-20-05-.91. To make such an allowance the following
conditions, in addition to those in paragraph (1) of this rule shall be
satisfied:
(a) The licensee selects
respiratory protection equipment that provides a protection factor (see
Schedule RHS 8-32) greater than the multiple by which peak concentrations of
airborne radioactive materials in the working area are expected to exceed the
values specified in Schedule RHS 8-30, Table 1, Column 3. If the selection of a
respiratory protection device with a protection factor greater than the peak
concentrations is inconsistent with the goal specified in Rule 0400-20-05-.91
of keeping the total effective dose equivalent ALARA, the licensee may select
respiratory protection equipment with a lower protection factor only if such a
selection would result in keeping the total effective dose equivalent ALARA.
The concentration of radioactive material inhaled when respirators are used may
be initially estimated by dividing the average concentration in air, during
each period of uninterrupted respirator use, by the protection factor. If the
exposure is later found to exceed the estimate, the corrected value shall be
used; if the exposure is later found to be less than the estimate, the
corrected value may be used.
(b)
The licensee shall obtain authorization from the Division before assigning
respiratory protection factors in excess of those specified in Schedule RHS
8-32. The Division may authorize a licensee to use higher protection factors on
receipt of an application that:
1. Describes
the situation for which a need exists for higher protection factors;
and
2. Demonstrates that the
respiratory protection equipment provides these higher protection factors under
the proposed conditions of use.
(c) The licensee shall use as emergency
devices only respiratory protection equipment that has been specifically
certified or had certification extended for emergency use by
NIOSH/MSHA.
(d) The licensee shall
notify, in writing, the Division at least 30 days before the date that
respiratory protection equipment is first used under the provisions of either
paragraph (1) or (2) of this rule.
Notes
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 68-202-201 et seq., and 4-5-201 et seq.
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