Illinois Administrative Code › Title 32 - ENERGY › Part 340 - STANDARDS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST RADIATION › Subpart H - RESPIRATORY PROTECTION AND CONTROLS TO RESTRICT INTERNAL EXPOSURE IN RESTRICTED AREAS › Section 340.730 - Use of Individual Respiratory Protection Equipment

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) If the licensee assigns or permits the use
				of respiratory protection equipment to limit the intake of radioactive material
				then:
1) Except as provided in subsection
				(a)(2), the licensee shall use only respiratory protection equipment that is
				tested and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
				Health (NIOSH).
2) The licensee may
				use equipment that has not been tested or certified by NIOSH, or for which
				there is no schedule for testing or certification, provided the Agency has
				approved an application for authorized use of that equipment. The application
				shall include evidence that the material and performance characteristics of the
				equipment are capable of providing the proposed degree of protection under
				anticipated conditions of use. This shall be demonstrated either by licensee
				testing or on the basis of reliable test information.
3) The licensee shall implement and maintain
				a respiratory protection program that includes:
A) Air sampling sufficient to identify the
				potential hazard, permit proper equipment selection, and estimate
				doses.
B) Surveys and bioassays, as
				necessary, to evaluate actual intakes.
C) Testing of respirators for operability
				(user seal check for face sealing devices and functional check for others)
				immediately prior to each use.
D)
				Written procedures regarding:
i) Monitoring,
				including air sampling and bioassays;
ii) Supervision and training of respirator
				users;
iii) Fit testing;
iv) Respirator selection;
v) Breathing air quality;
vi) Inventory and control;
vii) Storage, issuance, maintenance, repair,
				testing, and quality assurance of respiratory protection equipment;
viii) Recordkeeping; and
ix) Limitations on periods of respirator use
				and relief from respirator use.
E) Determination by a physician that the
				individual user is medically fit to use respiratory protection equipment:
i) Before the initial fitting of a face
				sealing respirator;
ii) Before the
				first field use of non-face sealing respirators; and
iii) Either every 12 months thereafter or
				periodically at a frequency determined by a physician.
F) Fit testing, with a 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, before the
				first field use of tight fitting, face-sealing respirators and periodically
				thereafter at a frequency not to exceed 1 year. Fit testing must be performed
				with the facepiece operating in the negative pressure mode.
4) The licensee shall advise each respirator
				user that the user may 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.
5) The licensee 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.
6) 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. The 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 (visual, voice, signal line, telephone, radio, or other
				suitable means), and be immediately available 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 immediately
				available to assist all users of this type of equipment and to provide
				effective emergency rescue if needed.
7) Atmosphere-supplying respirators must 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 and included in the regulations of the Occupational Safety and
				Health Administration at 29
				CFR 1910.134(i)(1)(ii)(A) through
				(E) (2019). Grade D quality air criteria
				include:
i) Oxygen content (v/v) of
				19.5 -23.5%;
ii) Hydrocarbon (condensed) content of 5
				milligrams per cubic meter of air or less;
iii) Carbon monoxide (CO) content of 10 ppm
				or less;
iv) Carbon dioxide content
				of 1,000 ppm or less; and
v) Lack
				of noticeable odor.
8)
				The licensee shall ensure that no objects, materials, or substances, such as
				facial hair, or any conditions that interfere with the face, facepiece seal, or
				valve function, under the control of the respirator wearer, are present between
				the skin of the respirator wearer's face and the sealing surface of a
				tight-fitting respirator facepiece.