On August 24, 2006, Assigned Protection Factors (APF) Final Rule was added to the Respiratory Standards.  APF final rule completes the revision of OSHA’s respiratory protection standards published in 1998.  The respiratory protection standard now contain provisions necessary for a comprehensive respiratory protection program, including selection and use of respirators, training, medical evaluation and fit testing.

For a copy of this Final Rule, please check the following link.  http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=18846

Major Highlights of the APR Final Rule:

•The final rule became effective November 22, 2006.

•APFs are numbers that indicate the level of workplace respiratory protection that a respirator or class of respirators is expected to provide to employees when used as part of an effective respiratory protection program.

•OSHA mandates employers follow these requirements and use APFs to select the appropriate type of respirator based upon the exposure limit of a contaminant and the level of the contaminant in the workplace.

•The revised standard assigns an APF of 5 to quarter-masks (the lowest APF), 10 to half-mask air-purifying respirators (including filtering facepieces) and 10,000 to self-contained breathing apparatus helmets or hoods in certain modes (the highest APF).