Employer responsibility:
To make sure voluntary use of respirators by employees does not create job safety or health hazards.
The employer must meet the requirements… | in this section: |
Make sure voluntary use of respirators is safe. | |
Keep voluntary use respirator program records. | |
IMPORTANT:
1. Respirator use is NOT voluntary if a respiratory hazard, such as exposure to a substance over the permissible exposure limit (PEL) or hazardous exposure to an airborne biological hazard, is present.
2. To evaluate respiratory hazards in the employer's workplace, see WAC
296-307-624 Scope.
3. Some requirements in this section do not apply if only filtering-facepiece respirators are used voluntarily. Some filtering-facepiece respirators are equipped with a sorbent layer for absorbing "nuisance" organic vapors. These can be used for voluntary use, but are not NIOSH certified for protection against hazardous concentrations of organic vapor.
[Statutory Authority: RCW
49.17.010,
49.17.040,
49.17.050, and
49.17.060. WSR 20-21-091, § 296-307-598, filed 10/20/20, effective 11/20/20; WSR 05-01-166, § 296-307-598, filed 12/21/04, effective 4/2/05.]