| (a) If the licensee assigns or permits the use of respiratory
protection equipment to limit the intake of radioactive material:
(1) The licensee shall use only respiratory protection equipment
that is tested and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH), except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) If the licensee wishes to use equipment that has not been
tested or certified by NIOSH, or for which there is no schedule for testing
or certification, the licensee shall submit an application for authorized
use of this equipment, except as provided in this section. 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 licensee
testing or on the basis of reliable test information.
(3) The licensee shall implement and maintain a respiratory
protection program that includes:
(A) air sampling sufficient to identify the potential hazard,
permit proper equipment selection, and estimate doses;
(B) surveys and bioassays, as necessary, to evaluate actual
intakes;
(C) testing of respirators for operability (user seal check
for face sealing devices and functional check for others) immediately before
each use;
(D) written procedures regarding:
(i) monitoring, including air sampling and bioassays;
(ii) supervision and training of respirator users;
(iii) fit testing;
(iv) respirator selection;
(v) breathing air quality;
(vi) inventory and control:
(vii) storage, issuance, maintenance, repair, testing, and
quality assurance of respiratory protection equipment;
(viii) recordkeeping; and
(ix) limitations on periods of respirator use and relief from
respirator use;
(E) determination by a physician that the individual user is
medically fit to use 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.
(F) fit testing, with fit factor greater than or equal to ten
times the assigned protection factor for negative pressure devices, and a
fit factor greater than or equal to 500 for any positive pressure, continuous
flow, and pressure-demand devices, before the first field use of tight fitting,
face-sealing repirators and periodically thereafter at a frequency not to
exceed one year. Fit testing must be performed with the facepiece operating
in the negative pressure mode.
(4) 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 this relief.
(5) 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.
(b) 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.
(c) 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
(Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations §1910.134(i)(1)(ii)(A) - (E)).
Grade D quality air criteria include:
(1) oxygen content (v/v) of 19.5-23.5%;
(2) hydrocarbon (condensed) content of five milligrams per
cubic meter of air or less:
(3) carbon monoxide (CO) content of ten parts per million (ppm)
or less;
(4) carbon dioxide content of 1,000 ppm or less; and
(5) lack of noticeable odor.
(d) 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.
(e) 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 specified in §336.358 of this title (relating to Appendix
A. Assigned Protection Factors for Respirators). 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.
(f) The licensee shall obtain authorization from the executive
director before using assigned protection factors in excess of those specified
in §336.358 of this title (relating to Appendix A. Assigned Protection
Factors for Respirators). The executive director may authorize a licensee
to use higher assigned 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.
|
