(A) To the extent practical, the licensee
shall use process or other engineering controls, such as containment,
decontamination or ventilation, to control the concentrations of radioactive
material in air. When it is not practical to apply process or other engineering
controls to control the concentrations of radioactive material in air to values
below those that define an airborne radioactivity area, the licensee shall
increase monitoring and limit intakes, consistent with maintaining the total
effective dose equivalent ALARA, by one or more of the following means:
(1) Control of access;
(2) Limitation of exposure times;
(3) Use of respiratory protection equipment;
or
(4) Other controls as determined
by the director.
(B) The
licensee may consider safety factors other than radiological factors when
determining whether to use respirators. The licensee should also consider the
impact of respirator use on workers' industrial health and safety.
(C) If the licensee uses respiratory
protection equipment to limit the intake of radioactive material, the licensee
shall:
(1) Use only respiratory protection
equipment that is tested and certified by the national institute for
occupational safety and health (NIOSH) and the mine safety and health
administration (MSHA), except that the licensee may use equipment that has not
been tested or certified by NIOSH and MSHA, or for which there is no schedule
for testing or certification, provided that:
(a) The licensee has submitted and the
director has approved an application for authorized use of that equipment;
and
(b) The licensee has
demonstrated by testing, or demonstrated on the basis of test information, that
the material and performance characteristics of the equipment are capable of
providing the appropriate proposed degree of protection under anticipated
conditions of use;
(2)
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 appropriate, to evaluate actual intakes;
(c) Testing whether each respirator is
operable immediately prior to each use;
(d) Written procedures regarding the
following:
(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 the 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 twelve months thereafter,
or periodically at a frequency determined by a physician.
(f) Fit testing, with fit factor greater than
or equal to ten times the assigned protection factor (APF) for negative
pressure devices, and a fit factor greater than or equal to five hundred 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.
(3) Issue a written policy
statement or procedure on respirator usage covering:
(a) The use of process or other engineering
controls, in lieu of respirators;
(b) The routine, nonroutine, and emergency
use of respirators;
(c) The length
of periods individuals may use a respirator; and
(d) Conditions for relief from respirator
use.
(4) 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. The licensee
shall use respiratory protection equipment within the equipment manufacturer's
expressed limitations for type and mode of use and shall provide for adequate
vision, communication, low temperature work environments, concurrent use of
other safety or radiological protection equipment, and other special
capabilities, such as adequate skin protection, when needed. 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 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 with the workers (visual, voice, signal line,
telephone, radio, or other suitable means), and be immediately able 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 rescue persons must 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 specifications for
air," 1997 and included in
29 C.F.R.
1910.134(i)(1)(ii)(A) to (E)
(as in effect on the effective date
of this rule).
(8) The
licensee shall ensure that no objects, materials, or substances, such as facial
hair, or any conditions that interfere with the seal between the face and
facepiece or valve function, and that are under the control of the respiratory
wearer, are present between the skin of the wearer's face and the sealing
surface of a tight-fitting respirator facepiece.
(D) When estimating exposure of individuals
to airborne radioactive materials, the licensee may make allowance for
respiratory protection equipment used to limit intakes pursuant to paragraph
(A) of this rule, provided that the following requirements, in addition to
those in paragraph (C)(1) of this rule, are satisfied:
(1) The licensee selects respiratory
protection equipment that provides a protection factor, as specified in
the appendix to this rule, greater than the multiple by which
peak concentrations of airborne radioactive materials in the working area are
expected to exceed the values specified in appendix C to rule
3701:1-38-12
of the Administrative Code. The concentration of radioactive material in the
air that is inhaled when respirators are worn may be initially estimated by
dividing the ambient concentration in air, without respiratory protection,
during each period of uninterrupted use, by the protection factor. If the
exposure is later found to be greater than initially estimated, the corrected
value shall be used. If the exposure is later found to be less than initially
estimated, the corrected value may be used; and
(2) The licensee shall obtain authorization
from the department before assigning respiratory protection factors in excess
of those specified in the appendix
to this rule. The department may
authorize a licensee to use higher protection factors on receipt of an
application that:
(a) Describes the situation
for which a need exists for higher protection factors; and
(b) Demonstrates that the respiratory
protection equipment provides these higher protection factors under the
proposed conditions of use.
(E) The department may impose restrictions in
addition to the provisions of this rule in order to:
(1) Ensure that 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
(2)
Limit the extent to which a licensee may use respiratory protection equipment
instead of process or other engineering controls.
(F) The licensee shall notify the department
in writing at least thirty days before the date that respiratory protection
equipment is first used pursuant to either paragraph (C) or (D) of this rule,
except for emergency use.
Click to
view Appendix