(1)
General. For employees who use respirators required by WAC
296-62-077
through
296-62-07747,
the employer must provide each employee an appropriate respirator that complies
with the requirements of this section. Respirators must be used during:
(a) Periods necessary to install or
implement feasible engineering and work-practice controls;
(b) Work operations, such as maintenance and
repair activities, for which engineering and work-practice controls are not
feasible;
(c) Work operations for
which feasible engineering and work-practice controls are not yet sufficient to
reduce employee exposure to or below the permissible exposure limits;
(d) Emergencies;
(e) Work operations in all regulated areas,
except for construction activities which follow requirements set forth in WAC
296-62-07715(1)(g);
(f) Work
operations whenever employee exposure exceeds the permissible exposure
limits;
(g) The following
construction activities:
(i) Class I
asbestos work;
(ii) Class II work
where the ACM is not removed in a substantially intact state;
(iii) Class II and Class III work which is
not performed using wet methods, except for removal of ACM from sloped roofs
when a negative-exposure assessment has been made and the ACM is removed in an
intact state;
(iv) Class II and
Class III asbestos work for which a negative-exposure assessment has not been
conducted;
(v) Class III work when
TSI or surfacing ACM or PACM is being disturbed;
(vi) Class IV work performed within
regulated areas where employees who are performing other work are required to
wear respirators.
(2)
Respirator program.
(a) The
employer must develop, implement and maintain a respiratory protection program
as required by chapter
296-842 WAC, Respirators, which covers each employee
required by this chapter to use a respirator.
(b) Employers must provide an employee with
a tight-fitting, powered, air-purifying respirator (PAPR) instead of a
negative-pressure respirator selected when an employee chooses to use a PAPR
and the respirator provides the required protection to the employee.
(c) The employer must inform any employee
required to wear a respirator under this section that the employee may require
the employer to provide a tight-fitting, powered, air-purifying respirator
(PAPR) instead of a negative-pressure respirator.
(d) No employee must be assigned to tasks
requiring the use of respirators if, based on their most recent medical
examination, the examining physician determines that the employee will be
unable to function normally using a respirator, or that the safety or health of
the employee or other employees will be impaired by the use of a respirator.
Such employees must be assigned to another job or given the opportunity to
transfer to a different position, the duties of which they can perform. If such
a transfer position is available, the position must be with the same employer,
in the same geographical area, and with the same seniority, status, and rate of
pay the employee had just prior to such transfer.
(3) Respirator selection. The employer must:
(a) Select and provide to employees
appropriate respirators as specified in this section, and in WAC
296-842-13005,
in the respirator rule.
Make sure filtering facepiece respirators are not selected or
used for protection against asbestos fibers.
(b) Provide employees with an air-purifying,
half-facepiece respirator, other than a filtering-facepiece respirator, that is
equipped with a HEPA filter or an N-, R-, or P-100 series filter whenever the
employee performs:
(i) Class II and III
asbestos work for which no negative-exposure assessment is available;
(ii) Class III asbestos work involving
disturbances of TSI or surfacing ACM or PACM.
(c) Equip any powered air-purifying
respirator (PAPR) or negative pressure air-purifying respirator with HEPA
filters or N-, R-, or P-100 series filters.
(4) Special respiratory protection
requirements.
(a) Unless specifically
identified in this subsection, respirator selection for asbestos removal,
demolition, and renovation operations must be in accordance with the selection
specifications of this section and the general selection requirements in WAC
296-842-13005,
found in the respirator rule. The employer must provide and require to be worn,
at no cost to the employee, a full facepiece supplied-air respirator operated
in the pressure demand mode equipped with either an auxiliary positive pressure
self-contained breathing apparatus or a HEPA filter egress cartridge, to
employees engaged in the following asbestos operations:
(i) Inside negative pressure enclosures used
for removal, demolition, and renovation of friable asbestos from walls,
ceilings, vessels, ventilation ducts, elevator shafts, and other structural
members, but does not include pipes or piping systems; or
(ii) Any dry removal of asbestos.
(b) For all Class I work excluded
or not specified in (a)(i) and (ii) of this subsection, when a
negative-exposure assessment is not available, and the exposure assessment
indicates the exposure level will be at or below 1 f/cc as an 8-hour time
weighted average, employers must provide employees with one of the following
respirators:
(i) A tight-fitting, powered,
air-purifying respirator equipped with high-efficiency filters;
(ii) A full-facepiece supplied-air
respirator operated in the pressure-demand mode equipped with either HEPA
egress cartridges; or
(iii) An
auxiliary positive-pressure, self-contained breathing apparatus.
(c) Whenever the employees are in
a regulated area performing Class I asbestos work for which a negative exposure
assessment is not available, and an exposure assessment indicates that the
exposure level will be above 1 f/cc as an 8-hour TWA, employers must provide a
full facepiece supplied-air respirator operated in the pressure-demand mode
equipped with an auxiliary positive-pressure self-contained breathing
apparatus.
EXCEPTION: |
In lieu of the supplied-air respirator required by
subsection (4) of this section, an employer may provide and require to be worn,
at no cost to the employee, a full facepiece supplied-air respirator operated
in the continuous flow mode equipped with either an auxiliary positive pressure
self-contained breathing apparatus or a back-up HEPA filter egress cartridge
where daily and historical personal monitoring data indicates the concentration
of asbestos fibers is not reasonably expected to exceed 10 f/cc. The continuous
flow respirator shall be operated at a minimum air flow rate of six cubic feet
per minute at the facepiece using respirable air supplied as required by
chapter 296-842 WAC, Respirators. |
(5)
Respirator fit testing.
(a)
For each employee wearing negative pressure respirators, employers must perform
either quantitative or qualitative face fit tests at the time of initial
fitting and at least annually thereafter. The qualitative fit tests may be used
only for testing the fit of half-mask respirators where they are permitted to
be worn.
(b) Any supplied-air
respirator facepiece equipped with a back-up HEPA filter egress cartridge must
be quantitatively fit tested (see chapter
296-842 WAC, Respirators).