Respiratory Protection

 

OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard was effective April 8, 1998.

It is estimated that the new rule will prevent more than 4,000 injuries and illnesses annu­ally. With the new rule, in addition to saving lives and preventing injuries and illnesses, employers will realize up to $94 million a year in savings on injury and illness-related costs. The new standard reflects current respirator technology and better ways to ensure they fit.

The revised standard requires:

·         A written plan with worksite-specific procedures to tailor your employers program to each worksite.

·         A hazard evaluation to characterize respiratory hazards and conditions of work to assist employers in selecting appropriate respirators.

·         A medical evaluation to determine ability of workers to wear the respirator selected.

·         Fit testing of tight-fitting respirators to reduce faceseal leakage and ensure that the res­pirators provide adequate protection.

·         A training program to ensure that your employees use respirators safely.

·         A periodic program evaluation to ensure that respirator use continues to be effective.

Why use respirators?

Respirators protect you against hazardous atmospheres containing:

·         Particulates/dusts (sil­ica).

·         Vapors and gases (carbon monoxide).

·         Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) atmospheres (oxygen deficiency).

·         Physical agents (radioactive particles).

·         Biological agents (mold spores).

When are respirators required?

Exposure to any material or substance at a concentration above the permissible exposure limit (PEL) specified in Appendix A to 1926.55 must be avoided. Compliance must be achieved by using administrative (i.e., employee shift changes) or engineering (i.e., ventila­tion) controls first. When these controls are not feasible to achieve full compliance, protec­tive equipment must be used to keep the exposure within the PELs prescribed.

Whenever respirators are used, their use must comply with 1926.103—Respiratory protec­tion. Various airborne contaminants in Appendix A of 1926.55 do not list PELs but instead send you to another portion of the construction regulations. These contaminants are called OSHA specific contaminants. Examples are: Asbestos (1926.1101), alpha-Naphthylamine (1926.1104), and lead (1926.62). There are approximately 27 of these substances. These OSHA specific contaminants have their own PELs and specific requirements. When you are required to use respirators, then all requirements of 29 CFR 1910.134 apply. 

This information is provided by Assurance Agency https:www.assuranceagency.com

 

Access to Scaffolds

 

Getting to the work level of a scaffold has always been a serious problem. Workers, when not provided with a proper stairway or ladder, might be tempted to use crossbraces to climb the scaffold. This is strictly forbidden in the new scaffold rule.

The OSHA rules apply to all employees gaining access to a scaffold work surface. For your safety, you should observe the following OSHA and your company rules when getting on or off a scaffold work area.

Access to and between scaffold platforms more than two feet above or below the point of access must be made by:

·         Portable ladders, hook-on ladders, attachable ladders, scaffold stairways, stairway-type ladders (such as ladder stands), ramps, walkways, integral prefabricated scaffold access, or equivalent means; or

·         by direct access from another scaffold, structure, personnel hoist, or similar surface.

Portable, hook-on, and attachable ladders — It is critical that portable, hook-on, and attach­able ladders are

·         Positioned so as not to tip the scaffold.

·         Positioned so the bottom rung is not more than 24 inches above your starting point.

·         Equipped with a rest platform at 35-foot maximum vertical intervals.

Stairway-type ladders must:

·         Be provided with rest platforms at 12 foot intervals.

·         Have slip-resistant treads on all steps and landings.

Stairtowers must:

·         Be equipped with a stairrail consisting of a toprail (handrail) and a midrail on each side of each scaffold stairway.

·         Have slip-resistant surfaces on treads and landings.

·         Have guardrails on the open sides and ends of each landing.

Ramps and walkways six feet or more above lower levels must have guardrail systems in place.

Scaffold frames that are used as access ladders must:

·         Be specifically designed and con­structed for use as ladder rungs.

·         Be uniformly spaced within each frame section.

As a user of scaffolds you are not allowed to erect or dismantle them — unless you are trained and designated to do so.  However, you still must be able to recognize hazardous conditions when climbing up and down, to and from, a work surface.  To totally ignore a problem is asking for trouble. Study the above OSHA rules and have a better understanding of when things do not look right.  When they don’t, don’t climb.

Never use crossbraces to gain access to a scaffold working platform.

This information is provided by Assurance Agency https:www.assuranceagency.com