OSHA News

OSHA Publishes Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for New Respirator Fit-Testing Protocol

(Dec 31, 2007)-- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (www.osha.gov) for a new fit-testing protocol -- the Abbreviated Bitrex Qualitative Fit-Testing (ABQLFT) protocol -- under Appendix A of OSHA's Respiratory Protection standard. The agency is accepting public comments until Feb. 25, 2008.

"This proposed rule will add a new fit-test method that has a shorter exercise duration than the current methods," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "This method will give employers additional flexibility in selecting procedures for conducting fit-testing."

The proposed rule would add the ABQLFT as an alternative to the four existing OSHA-approved qualitative fit-test protocols. The ABQLFT protocol currently listed in the existing OSHA-approved Bitrex fit-test protocol in the Respiratory Protection standard would shorten the duration for each of the seven fit-test exercises from one minute to 15 seconds.

The proposed protocol would apply to employers in general industry, shipyard employment and the construction industry.

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