Labor Department Issues Temporary Guidance for Respirator Fit Testing

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 | 0

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued temporary guidance regarding enforcement of its respiratory protection for health care workers during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In light of an anticipated shortage of N95 masks, OSHA recommends employers supply health care workers with respirators that provide equal or higher protection, such as N99 or N100 filtering masks, reusable elastomeric respirators with appropriate filters or cartridges, or powered air-purifying respirators.

OSHA also recommends employers change from a quantitative fit-testing method to a qualitative testing method to protect the integrity of N95 masks. The agency said its field offices have discretion to not cite an employer for violating annual fit-testing requirements if the employers:

• Make a good faith effort to comply with the respiratory protection standard.
• Use only respirators certified by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
• Implement strategies recommended by OSHA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for optimizing and prioritizing N95 respirators.
• Perform initial fit tests for each health care employee with the same model, style and size respirator that the employee will be required to wear for protection from coronavirus.
• Inform employees when temporarily suspending annual fit-testing of N95 respirators to preserve the supply for use in situations where they are required to be worn.
• Explain to employees the importance of conducting a fit check after putting on the respirator to make sure they are getting an adequate seal.
• Conduct a fit test if they observe visual changes in an employee’s physical condition that could affect respirator fit.
• Remind employees to notify management if the integrity or fit of their N95 respirator is compromised.

The temporary enforcement guidance that went into effect Saturday will remain in place until further notice.