Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 481 - VIRGINIA RADIATION PROTECTION REGULATIONS › Part IV - Standards For Protection Against Radiation › Article 8 - Respiratory Protection and Controls to Restrict Internal Exposure in Restricted Areas › Section 12VAC5-481-830 - Use of individual respiratory protection equipment

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. If the licensee assigns or permits the use
					 of respiratory protection equipment to limit the intake of radioactive
					 material:
1. 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 part.
2. If the licensee
					 wishes to use equipment that has not been tested or certified by NIOSH, or for
					 which there is no schedule for testing or certification, the licensee shall
					 submit an application to the agency 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 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
					 (i.e., user seal check for face sealing devices and functional check for
					 others) immediately prior to each use;
d. Written procedures regarding:
(1) Monitoring, including air sampling and
					 bioassays;
(2) Supervision and
					 training of respirator users;
(3)
					 Fit testing;
(4) Respirator
					 selection;
(5) Breathing air
					 quality;
(6) Inventory and
					 control;
(7) Storage, issuance,
					 maintenance, repair, testing, and quality assurance of respiratory protection
					 equipment;
(8) Recordkeeping;
					 and
(9) 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 at the
					 following stages:
(1) Before the initial
					 fitting of a face sealing respirator;
(2) Before the first field use of non-face
					 sealing respirators, and
(3) Either
					 every 12 months thereafter, or periodically at a frequency determined by a
					 physician; and
f. Fit
					 testing, with fit factor greater than 10 times the assigned protection factor
					 (APF) for negative pressure devices, and a fit factor 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 shall 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 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.
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. 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 (e.g., 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 shall 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:
a. Oxygen content (v/v) of
					 19.5-23.5%;
b. Hydrocarbon
					 (condensed) content of 5 milligrams per cubic meter of air or less;
c. Carbon monoxide (CO) content of 10 ppm or
					 less;
d. Carbon dioxide content of
					 1,000 ppm or less; and
e. 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) 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.
9. In estimating 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 shall be used. If the dose
					 is later found to be less than the estimated dose, the corrected value may be
					 used.