EmployeesĮmployees who are identified as needing respiratory protection are required to comply with Departmental and Work Unit specific policies on respirator use.Įmployees (males) are also responsible for ensuring that they are clean shaven prior to annual fit-testing and anytime they must use and don a respirator. Supervisors are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of all provisions of this program. The supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the employees receive respirator training, fit-testing, and medical evaluations prior to issuing respirators for use. The supervisor must ensure that worksite specific safety procedures (Job Safety Analysis) are developed and communicated to employees. The specific duties requiring the use of respirators are to be described along with identifying the type of respirators to be worn (see below Worksite-Specific Procedures). Supervisors are to develop and implement written site-specific procedures outlining the nature of the work, the hazard to which employees are exposed, and safety procedures to be followed. The Department of Environment, Health and Safety is responsible for administering and overseeing the respiratory protection program and for conducting evaluations of program effectiveness. Responsibilities Department of Environment, Health and Safety This program will be updated as necessary to reflect changes in workplace conditions that affect respirator use. The use of respirators is the last line of defense to protect employees from inhalation hazards. When effective engineering controls and other types of workplace controls (administrative, product substitution, etc.) are not feasible, or while they are being instituted, appropriate respirators shall be provided and used. When possible, occupational exposures caused by breathing contaminated air must be controlled through the use of feasible engineering controls such as the use of general and local ventilation systems, confinement of the operation, or substitution of less toxic materials. Respirators shall be used to protect against harmful dusts, fibers, fumes, mists, gasses, smokes, sprays, bio-aerosols, and vapors. The purpose of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) Respiratory Protection Program is to protect the health of employees in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Respiratory Protection Standard. This study emphasizes the need for field-derived welding fume generation rates and showed the personal breathing zone and area sample concentrations can be described by the two-zone model in a way that may help the industrial hygienist estimate exposures.Environment, Health and Safety Manual - Chapter 05.18: Occupational Safety Policies - Respiratory Protection Program Introduction The field-based generation rates were considerably lower than laboratory-derived published emission rates of between 280 and 650 mg/min for TP. The average generation rate in the breezeway was 40.0 mg/min for TP, 6.6 mg/min for Fe, and 1.2 mg/min for Mn. The average generation rate in the boiler room was 39.2 mg/min for TP, 6.4 mg/min for Fe, and 1.3 mg/min for Mn. The steady-state form of the two-zone model was applied to long-term and short-term sample total particulate, Fe, and Mn concentrations obtained during welding in the boiler room and breezeway. Both tracer gas and anemometer techniques were used to estimate ventilation of the boiler room. Average arc times ranged from 20 to 25% of the total sampling time. The boiler room average personal breathing zone sample total particulate concentrations ranged from 4.73 mg/m(3) to 5.90 mg/m(3), Fe concentrations ranged from 0.48 to 0.85 mg/m(3), and Mn concentrations ranged from 0.06 to 0.16 mg/m(3). Breezeway average personal breathing zone sample total particulate concentrations ranged from 2.89 mg/m(3) to 4.38 mg/m(3), Fe concentrations ranged from 0.53 to 0.63 mg/m(3), and Mn concentrations ranged from 0.10 to 0.12 mg/m(3). Samples were collected and analyzed for total particulate following NIOSH Method 0500 and for select metals following NIOSH Method 7300. The study is unique in that one welder was evaluated under high production conditions for 2 days at two different welding locations: a boiler room and a breezeway. The resulting breathing zone (near field) and area (far field) welding fume concentration data were applied to the two-zone model for the purpose of determining field-derived personal exposure emission (generation) rates during actual welding work. This study assessed a professional pipefitter/welder performing shielded metal arc welding on carbon steel under field conditions.
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