OSHA Revises Respiratory Protection Standards
August 25, 2006
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OSHA has announced that new Assigned Protection Factors (APFs) for respiratory protection programs are being incorporated into the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) respiratory protection standard (1910.134).
APFs are numbers that indicate the level of workplace respiratory protection that a respirator or class of respirators is expected to provide to employees when used as part of an effective respiratory protection program. An APF table is being included in the final standard to guide employers in the selection of air-purifying, powered air-purifying, supplied-air (or airline respirator), and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) respirators.
Employers must follow these new requirements and use APFs to select the appropriate type of respirator based upon the exposure limit of a contaminant and the level of the contaminant in the workplace.
ClickOSHA Trade News Release to access the notice and the Assigned Protection Factors Table.
