New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 3 - RADIATION PROTECTION › Part 4 - STANDARDS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST RADIATION › Section 20.3.4.423 - USE OF INDIVIDUAL RESPIRATORY PROTECTION EQUIPMENT

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
The requirements of this section apply to licensees and
				  registrants who assign or permit the use of respiratory protection equipment to
				  limit the intake of radioactive material.
A. The licensee or registrant 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 part.
B. If the licensee or
				registrant wishes to use equipment that has not been tested or certified by
				national institute for occupational safety and health (NIOSH), or for which
				there is no schedule for testing or certification, the licensee or registrant
				shall submit an application to the department for authorized use of this
				equipment except as provided in this part. 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 testing made by the
				licensee or registrant, or on the basis of reliable test information.
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 necessary, 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:
(a) monitoring,
				including air sampling and bioassays;
(b) supervision and training of respirator
				users;
(c) fit testing;
(d) respirator selection;
(e) breathing air quality;
(f) inventory and control;
(g) storage, issuance, maintenance, repair,
				testing and quality assurance of respiratory protection equipment;
(h) recordkeeping; and
(i) relief from respirator use and
				limitations on periods of respirator use;
(5) determination by a physician that the
				individual user is medically fit to use respiratory protection equipment;
				before:
(a) the initial fitting of a face
				sealing respirator;
(b) before the
				first field use of non-face sealing respirators; and
(c) either every 12 months thereafter, or
				periodically at a frequency determined by a physician;
(6) fit testing, with fit factor greater than
				or equal to 10 times the APF for negative pressure devices, and a fit factor
				that is greater than or equal to 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 shall be performed with the facepiece operating in
				the negative pressure mode.