Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 641 - Public Health Department › Chapter 40 - Standards for Protection Against Radiation › Rule 641-40.50 - Use of Individual Respiratory Protection Equipment

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1) If the licensee assigns or permits the
			 use of respiratory protection equipment to limit intakes pursuant to
			 40.49(136C):
a. The licensee shall use only
			 respiratory protection equipment that is tested and certified by the National
			 Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), except as otherwise noted
			 in this subrule.
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 a demonstration by testing, or a
			 demonstration on the basis of reliable test information, that the material and
			 performance characteristics of the equipment are capable of providing the
			 proposed degree of protection under anticipated conditions of use.
c. The licensee or registrant 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 appropriate, to evaluate actual intakes;
(3) Testing of respirators for operability
			 (user seal check for face sealing devices and functional check for others)
			 immediately prior to each use;
(4)
			 Written procedures regarding monitoring, including air sampling and bioassays;
			 supervision and training of respirator user; fit testing; respirator selection;
			 breathing air quality; inventory and control; storage, issuance, maintenance,
			 repair, testing, and quality assurance of respiratory protection equipment;
			 record keeping; and limitations on periods of respirator use and relief from
			 respirator use;
(5) Determination
			 by a physician that the individual user is medically fit to use respiratory
			 protection equipment: before the initial fitting of a face-sealing respirator;
			 before the first field use of non-face-sealing respirators; and either every 12
			 months thereafter, or periodically at a frequency determined by a physician;
			 and
(6) Fit testing, with a fit
			 factor equal to or greater than 10 times the APF for negative pressure devices,
			 and a fit factor equal to or greater than 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 one year. Fit testing must be performed with the
			 facepiece operating in the negative pressure mode.
d. 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.
e. The licensee shall also 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 devices and personnel
			 protection equipment is used from which an unaided individual would have
			 difficulty extricating himself or herself. The standby rescue persons must 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 (visual, voice, signal line, telephone,
			 radio, or other suitable means) with the workers, and be immediately available
			 to assist the workers 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 must be immediately available to assist all users of this type
			 of equipment and to provide effective emergency rescue if needed.
g. 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 (
			 29 CFR
			 1910.134(i)(1)(ii)(A) through
			 (E)) . Grade D quality air criteria include:
(1) Oxygen content (v/v) of 19.5 to 23.5
			 percent;
(2) Hydrocarbon
			 (condensed) content of 5 milligrams per cubic meter of air or less;
(3) Carbon monoxide (CO) content of 10 ppm or
			 less;
(4) Carbon dioxide content of
			 1000 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, facepiece seal or valve
			 function, and that are under the control of the respirator wearer, are present
			 between the skin of the wearer's face and the sealing surface of a
			 tight-fitting respirator facepiece.
i. In the estimation of the dose to
			 individuals from intake of airborne radioactive materials, the concentration of
			 radioactive material in the air that is inhaled when respirators are worn is
			 initially assumed to be the ambient concentration in air without respiratory
			 protection, divided by the assigned protection factor. If the dose is later
			 found to be greater than the estimated dose, the corrected value must be used.
			 If the dose is later found to be less than the estimated dose, the corrected
			 value may be used.