64E-5.319. Use of Individual Respiratory Protection Equipment

(1) If the licensee uses respiratory protection equipment to limit intakes as specified in Rule 64E-5.318, F.A.C.:

(a) The licensee shall use only respiratory protection equipment that is tested and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health except as provided in paragraph 64E-5.319(1)(b), F.A.C.

(b) If the licensee wishes to use equipment that has not been tested or certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or for which there is no schedule for testing or certification, the licensee shall submit an application for authorized use of that equipment, including evidence that the material and performance characteristics of the equipment are capable of providing the proposed degree of protection under anticipated conditions of use demonstrated by testing or on the basis of reliable test information.

(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 needed to evaluate actual intakes;

3. Testing of respirators for operability including user seal checks for face sealing devices and functional checks for other devices immediately before each use;

4. Written procedures regarding supervision and training of respirator users; monitoring, including air sampling and bioassays; fit testing; respirator selection; breathing air quality; inventory and control; storage, issuance, maintenance, repair, testing, and quality assurance of respiratory protection equipment; limitations on periods of respirator use and relief from respirator use; and recordkeeping;

5. Determination by a physician before initial fitting of face sealing respirators, before the first field use of non-face sealing respirators, and every 12 months thereafter or periodically at a frequency determined by a physician that the individual user is medically fit to use respiratory protection equipment; and

6. Fit testing before the first field use of tight fitting face-sealing respirators and periodically thereafter at a frequency not to exceed 1 year 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. Fit testing shall be performed with the facepiece operating in the negative pressure mode.

(d) The licensee shall advise each respirator user that the user can 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 also shall 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.

(f) 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. 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 through visual, voice, signal line, telephone, radio, or other suitable means and be available immediately 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 available immediately to assist all users of this type of equipment and to provide effective emergency rescue if needed.

(g) 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, which is herein incorporated by reference and, available from the Compressed Gas Association, Inc., and included in the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Grade D quality air criteria include:

1. Oxygen content (v/v) of 19.5—23.5%;

2. Condensed hydrocarbon content of 5 milligrams per cubic meter of air or less;

3. Carbon monoxide content of 10 ppm or less;

4. Carbon dioxide content of 1,000 ppm or less; and

5. Lack of noticeable odor.

(h) The licensee shall ensure that no objects, materials, or substances such as facial hair, or any conditions that interfere with the face-to-facepiece seal or valve function and that are under the control of the respirator wearer are between the skin of the wearer’s face and the sealing surface of a tight-fitting respirator facepiece.

(2) When estimating the dose to individuals from airborne radioactive materials, the concentration of radioactive material in the air that is inhaled when respirators are worn is assumed initially to be the ambient concentration in air without respiratory protection divided by the assigned protection factor. If the dose later is found to be greater than the estimated dose, the corrected value shall be used. If the dose later is found to be less than the estimated dose, the corrected value can be used.

(a) Licensees shall take actions to limit doses to individuals from intakes of airborne radioactive materials to maintain total effective dose equivalent ALARA, which could include using process or other engineering controls and limiting the use of respiratory protection equipment.

(b) The licensee shall obtain authorization from the Department before using assigned protection factors in excess of those specified in State of Florida, Bureau of Radiation Control Protection Factors for Respirators, May 2006. The Department can 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.

Rulemaking Authority 404.051, 404.081 FS. Law Implemented 404.051(1), (4), 404.081 FS. History–New 1-1-94, Formerly 10D-91.452, Amended 5-18-98, 9-28-06.