Resources for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

OSHA offers guide to stockpiling masks, respirators

www.cidrap.umn.edu

The US Department of Labor (DOL) yesterday released proposed guidance on stockpiling respirators and facemasks in the workplace, which encourages employers to stockpile the items because of the likelihood that they will run short during an influenza pandemic.

The document, issued by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), offers tips on estimating the needed quantity and resulting costs of the equipment on the basis of employees' exposure risks. The DOL said it is seeking public comment on the proposed guidance. Instructions for submitting comments appeared in the Federal Register on May 9; the deadline is July 8, 2008.

In February 2007, the DOL and the Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance on preparing workplaces for an influenza pandemic. The DOL, in its report yesterday, said it would publish a final version of its stockpiling guidance as an appendix to the earlier recommendations.

The proposed stockpiling recommendations use the same four-level workplace risk pyramid that appears in the broader pandemic planning recommendations. For example, healthcare employees who perform aerosol-generating procedures would be classified as having a "very high" risk, while an office employee who has little contact with the public would fall into the "lower exposure" risk category. (OSHA does not recommend masks and respirators for lower-exposure work environments.)

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