Respirators
AMD Industries Faces $1.2 Million in OSHA Fines for Asbestos Exposure
Cicero, Ill.-based AMD Industries Inc. faces more than $1.2 million in proposed OSHA fines after allegedly exposing unprotected and untrained workers to asbestos...
Heart Attacks, Acceptance of Risk Contribute to Increased Firefighter Fatalities
Cultural factors in firefighters’ work environment that promote getting the job done as quickly as possible with whatever resources available lead to an increase in line-of-duty firefighter fatalities, according to researchers at the UGA College of Public Health. The researchers also determined that cardiovascular events, and not smoke inhalation, represent the leading cause of death for firefighters...
OSHA Issues Guidance on Spirometry Testing to Prevent Respiratory Hazard Exposure
OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed two guidance documents, one for workers and one for employers, describing the use of spirometry testing to help reduce and prevent worker exposure to respiratory hazards...
New NIOSH Document Suggests Asbestos Research Strategy
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) issued a new document that contains the agency’s recommended framework for a national research strategy to address current scientific uncertainties about occupational exposure and toxicity issues relating to asbestos fibers and other elongate mineral particles...
The Respiratory Protection Solutionfor Welding Fume Exposures
Increasing knowledge about the health hazards associated with breathing harmful levels of welding fume and gases and the serious illnesses that can result emphasizes the need for welders to be informed, trained and equipped with appropriate protection...
OSHA Reissues Shipbreaking National Emphasis Program, Updates Shipyard PPE Directive
OSHA issued two directives on Nov. 4 to update its National Emphasis Program on Shipbreaking and its Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in Shipyard Employment...
NSC: OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations
On Oct. 5, OSHA revealed the top 10 most cited violations in fiscal year 2010 during a special session at the National Safety Council (NSC) Congress and Expo in San Diego, highlighting the agency’s enforcement efforts for fall protection, hazard communication, electrical safety and more...
Lawmakers Appeal to EPA, DOL for Safety Enforcement During Oil Spill Cleanup
On June 3, two members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure sent a letter to EPA and the Department of Labor (DOL) demanding that all response and recovery workers responding to the Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill are provided proper protective equipment, including respirators, and that all federal laws governing worker safety and respiratory protection are enforced...
Michaels Identifies Oil Spill Cleanup Safety Concerns, BP Response Deficiencies
In a May 25 memo to Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander for the Gulf Coast oil spill, OSHA administrator David Michaels expressed concern “over significant deficiencies in BP’s oil spill response operations related to worker safety” and outlined problem areas ranging from inadequate site control practices to heat stress risks and more...
Constructing a Powered Air Purifying Respirator System
Learn how powered air purifying respirator systems can help workers breathe easier...
Welders Exposed to Manganese Above Recommended Levels
Researchers investigating welding fume exposures have found that welders frequently are exposed to manganese at or above the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommended limit of 0.2 milligrams per cubic meter...
New OSHA Videos Offer Respirator, Facemask Safety Guidance
OSHA has developed two new videos for health care workers that feature training and guidance on respirator safety...
AIHA’s Respiratory Protection Committee Releases White Paper on Research Needs in Respiratory Protection
Many current practices in respiratory protection are based on assumptions, past practices or extrapolation from laboratory studies, according to the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and few studies have been done to evaluate the efficacy of or the need for each of these practices...
NSC: OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations
The top 10 most cited OSHA violations were unveiled Oct. 27 at 97th annual National Safety Council (NSC) Congress and Expo in Orlando, Fla., with scaffolding and fall protection violations once again topping the list...
NSC: Protecting Health Care Workers from the H1N1 Threat
At the National Safety Council (NSC) 2009 Congress and Expo, NIOSH Director John Howard stressed that in the face of the H1N1 pandemic, the perception that health care workers are self-sacrificial “saints” who inevitably place themselves at risk when they come to work must be discarded and that occupational safety and health principles must be applied to protect this working population...
OSHA Prepares to Release Compliance Directive for H1N1-Related Inspections
To ensure the protection of frontline health care and emergency medical workers at high risk of infection with H1N1 virus, OSHA soon will issue a compliance directive to ensure uniform procedures when conducting inspections to identify and minimize or eliminate high to very high risk occupational exposures to the H1N1 influenza virus...
Preventing Flu Outbreaks in Health Care Workers: Surgical Masks vs. N95 Respirators
Surgical masks appear to be no worse than, and nearly as effective as, N95 respirators in preventing influenza in health care workers, according to a study released by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA)...
New Developments in Respiratory Protection
NIOSH requirements for several types of respirators are changing. See what’s ahead for powered air-purifying respirators....
What You Should Know About Selecting Respiratory Protection
Respiratory protection is provided to employees when a hazard can not be eliminated or effectively minimized with engineering controls...
OSHA Releases New Respiratory Protection Guidance
In its newly published guidance document, Assigned Protection Factors (APF), OSHA provides employers with vital information for selecting respirators for workers exposed to contaminants in the air....
OSHA Proposes $273,000 in Fines against Jamestown, N.Y., Employer for Lack of Asbestos Safeguards
OSHA cited Blackstone Business Enterprises Inc. of Jamestown, N.Y., for 18 alleged willful and serious violations of OSHA standards for failing to protect contract employees against asbestos hazards....
ISEA Announces Public Review for First Aid, Smoke Hood Standards
The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) recently announced the availability of draft revisions to its voluntary consensus standards for workplace first aid kits and air-purifying respiratory protective smoke escape devices. ...
OSHA Proposes Revised Procedures for Fit Testing Respirators
OSHA has proposed two revised fit test procedures under the Respiratory Protection Standard for determining the effectiveness of respiratory protection facemasks....
How Regulation and Innovation Have Shaped Respiratory Protection
Today's personal protective equipment (PPE) includes clothing, helmets, respirators, goggles and other gear to reduce exposures the wearer experiences...
OSHA Rejects Fire Prevention Technology
New York-based FirePASS Corp. reached out to Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., who then sent a letter to OSHA asking Foulke to explain why the agency denied granting...
