Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 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.
b) When 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. Protection factors for respirators are specified in Appendix A to 10 CFR
20 (1999).
c) The licensee shall
obtain authorization from the Agency before using assigned protection factors
in excess of those specified in Appendix A to 10 CFR 20 (1999). The Agency may
authorize a licensee to use higher assigned protection factors on receipt of an
application that:
1) Describes the situation
for which a need exists for higher protection factors; and
2) Demonstrates that the respiratory
protection equipment provides these higher protection factors under the
proposed conditions of use.
d) The Agency may impose restrictions in
addition to the provisions of this Section, Section
340.720, and Appendix A to 10
CFR 20 (1999) in order to ensure the respiratory protection program of the
licensee is adequate to limit doses to individuals from intakes of airborne
radioactive materials consistent with maintaining total effective dose
equivalent ALARA and limit the extent to which a licensee may use respiratory
protection equipment instead of process or other engineering
controls.
