Could be exposed to one of the specific hazards
listed below.
This part applies to any workplace with potential or actual employee
exposure to respiratory hazards. It requires you to protect employees
from respiratory hazards by applying this protection strategy:
Evaluate employee exposures to determine if
controls are needed
Use feasible controls. For example, enclose
or confine the operation, use ventilation systems, or substitute
with less toxic material
Use respirators if controls are not feasible
or if they cannot completely remove the hazard.
Definition:
Exposed or exposure:
The contact an employee has with a toxic
substance, harmful physical agent or oxygen deficient condition,
whether or not protection is provided by respirators or other
personal protective equipment (PPE). Exposure can occur through
various routes of entry, such as inhalation, ingestion, skin contact,
or skin absorption.
Note:
Examples of substances that may be respiratory
hazards when airborne include:
Listed in the latest edition of the
NIOSH Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances
For which positive evidence of an
acute or chronic health hazard exists through tests
conducted by, or known to, the employer
That may pose a hazard to human health
as stated on a material safety data sheet kept by, or
known to, the employer
- Atmospheres considered oxygen
deficient
- Biological agents such as harmful bacteria,
viruses or fungi
Examples include airborne TB aerosols
and anthrax
- Pesticides with a
label requirement for respirator use
- Chemicals used as crowd control agents such
as pepper spray
- Chemicals present
at clandestine drug labs.
These substances can be airborne as dusts,
fibers, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smoke, sprays, vapors, or
aerosols.
Reference:
Substances in Table
3 that are marked with an X in the "skin" column may require
personal protective equipment (PPE). See WAC
296-307-100, Personal protective equipment, for additional
information and requirements.
If any of the following hazards are present
in your workplace, you will need both this part and any of the
following specific rules that apply:
Make sure employees are protected from potentially
hazardous exposure while you perform your evaluation
Perform your evaluation without considering
the protection provided to employees by a respirator
Determine the form of the hazard, such as
dust, mist, gas, oxygen deficiency, or biological agent
Make sure you consider:
- Potential emergency and rescue situations
that may occur, such as equipment or power failures, uncontrolled
chemical reactions, fire, explosion, or human error
- Workplace conditions such as work processes,
types of material, control methods, work practices and environmental
conditions.
Determine or reasonably estimate whether any
employee is or could be exposed to any of the following:
- Any airborne substance above a permissible
exposure limit (PEL) listed in Table
3
- A substance at or above the action level
(AL) specified in the rule for that substance
- Any other respiratory hazard.
Use any of the following
to determine employee exposure:
- Information that would allow an estimate
of the level of employee exposure, such as MSDSs or pesticide
labels, observations, measurements or calculations
- Data demonstrating that a particular
product, material or activity cannot result in employee
exposure at or above the AL or PEL
- Personal air samples that represent
an employee's usual or worst case exposure for the entire
shift.
Note:
Rules for specific substances may contain
additional requirements for determining employee exposure.
Use methods of sampling and analysis that
have been validated by the laboratory performing the analysis.
Samples from a representative group of employees
may be used for other employees performing the same work activities
when the duration and level of exposure are similar.
You must
Consider the atmosphere to be immediately
dangerous to life or health (IDLH) when you cannot determine
or reasonably estimate employee exposure
Make sure employee exposure, to 2 or more
substances with additive health effects, is evaluated using
this formula:
E m
=
C 1
L 1
+
C 2
L 2
+
. . .
+
Cn
L n
The
symbol
Is the
. . .
E
Equivalent exposure for the
mixture. When the value of E is greater than 1,
a respiratory hazard is present.
C
Concentration of a particular
substance.
L
TWA, STEL, or ceiling for that
substance from Table
3.
Use feasible controls to protect employees
from exposure to respiratory hazards by:
- Reducing employee exposure to a level
that removes the respiratory hazard, such as to a level
below the permissible exposure limit (PEL) in Table
3;
OR
- Reducing the exposure to the lowest
achievable level, when the respiratory hazard cannot be
removed.
Note:
The following table gives you examples of
control methods.
Table
1
Examples of Possible Controls
Control:
For example:
Using a different chemical (substitution)
Choose a chemical with a lower evaporation
rate or vapor pressure.
Choose a chemical without hazardous
ingredients.
Changing a process to lessen
emissions
Use hand rolling or paint dipping instead
of paint spraying.
Bolt items instead of welding them.
Separating employees from emissions
areas and sources
Use control rooms.
Build an enclosure around process machinery
or other emissions sources.
Automate a process.
Removing emissions at or near
the source (local exhaust ventilation)
Install exhaust hoods or slots to capture
emissions.
Use an exhausted enclosure (like a blasting
cabinet or laboratory hood).
Diluting and removing emissions
in the work area (general exhaust ventilation)
Allow natural air movement to create
an adequate airflow through an area.
Use mechanical fans
Modify work practices
Change the position of the worker relative
to the work so fumes, vapors, or smoke do not go into
their face.
Rotate employees
- Some specific rules prohibit the use
of this control method
Move employees to another job that
is without exposure, on a schedule to keep their total
exposure below the permissible exposure limit.
Require employees to use respiratory protection
when respiratory hazards have not been removed using feasible
controls. For example, use respirators at any of the following
times:
- While controls are being evaluated or
put in place
- When the respiratory hazard is not completely
removed
- When controls are not feasible.
Reference:
See WAC 296-307-594,
Respirators, for respirator program requirements.
Notify employees who are or may be exposed
to respiratory hazards, as specified in Table
2.
Note:
The notification may be provided either individually,
to a group, or by posting of results in an appropriate location
that's accessible to affected employees.
Table
2
Notification Requirements
Notify
employees of:
As follows:
Any exposure result above a
permissible exposure limit (PEL)
Within 5 business days, after
the employee's exposure result is known to the employer
The corrective action being
taken to reduce employee exposure to or below the PEL
Within 15 business days, after
the employee's exposure result is known to the employer
and
The schedule for completion
of the corrective action and any reasons why exposures cannot
be lowered to below the PEL
An exposure to these substances:
In writing, as specified in
the rule specific to the substance
Exposure needs to be determined from personal
air samples taken in the breathing zone or from monitoring representative
of the employee's breathing zone.
Ppm refers to parts of vapor or gas per million
parts of air by volume, at 25 degrees C and 760 mm Hg pressure.
Mg/m3 refers to milligrams of
substance per cubic meter of air.
For a metal that is measured as the metal
itself, only the CAS number for the metal is given. The CAS
numbers for individual compounds of the metal are not provided.
For more information about CAS registry numbers see the website:
http://www.cas.org.
Time weighted averages (TWA8) represent
the maximum allowed average exposure for any 8-hour time period.
For work periods longer than 8 hours the TWA8 needs
to be determined using the 8 continuous hours with the highest
average concentration.
Short-term exposure limits (STEL) represent
maximum allowed average exposure for any fifteen-minute period,
unless another time period is noted in Table
3.
The ceiling represents the maximum allowed
exposure for the shortest time period that can feasibly be measured.
An "X" in the "skin" column indicates the
substance can be absorbed through the skin, either by airborne
or direct contact.
Requirements for the use of gloves, coveralls,
goggles, and other personal protective equipment can be found
in WAC 296-307-100.
The respirable fraction of particulate is
measured by sampling with a size-selector having the following
characteristics:
An exposure limit, measured over the
shortest time period feasible, that must not be exceeded during
any part of the employee's workday.
Dust
Solid particles suspended in air. Dusts
are generated by handling, drilling, crushing, grinding, rapid
impact, detonation, or decrepitation of organic or inorganic
materials such as rock, ore, metal, coal, wood, grain, etc.
Exposed or exposure
The contact an employee has with a
toxic substance, harmful physical agent or oxygen deficient
condition. Exposure can occur through various routes of entry,
such as inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, or skin absorption.
Fume
Solid particles suspended in air, generated
by condensation from the gaseous state, generally after volatilization
from molten metals, etc.
Gas
A normally formless fluid which can
be changed to the liquid or solid state by the effect of increased
pressure or decreased temperature or both.
Mist
Liquid droplets suspended in air, generated
by condensation from the gaseous to the liquid state or by breaking
up a liquid into a dispersed state, such as by splashing, foaming,
spraying or atomizing.
Oxygen deficient
An atmosphere with an oxygen content
below 19.5% by volume.
Permissible exposure limits (PEL)
Permissible exposure limits (PELs)
are employee exposures to toxic substances or harmful agents
that must not be exceeded. PELs are specified in applicable
WISHA rules.
Short-term exposure limit (STEL)
An exposure limit averaged over a short
time period (usually measured for 15 minutes) that must not
be exceeded during any part of an employee's workday.
Time weighted average (TWA8)
An exposure limit averaged over 8 hours
that must not be exceeded during an employee's workday.
Toxic substance
Any chemical substance or biological
agent, such as bacteria, virus, and fungus, which is any of
the following:
Listed in the latest edition of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Registry
of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS)
Shows positive evidence of an acute or
chronic health hazard in testing conducted by, or known to,
the employer.
The subject of a material safety data
sheet kept by or known to the employer showing the material
may pose a hazard to human health.
Vapor
The gaseous form of a substance that
is normally in the solid or liquid state.
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