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OSHA gives facilities six months to comply with respiratory rule

Infection Control Monitor, January 23, 2004

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) on January 14 said it would delay the enforcement of several provisions of its respiratory protection standard for six months to give facilities time to adequately protect workers from exposure to tuberculosis (TB).

The six-month phase-in period comes after OSHA officially withdrew its proposed TB standard on December 31, instead planning to apply its general industry respiratory protection standard to workers exposed to TB in health care facilities.

New requirements include updating the facility's respirator program, complying with amended medical evaluation requirements, annual fit testing of respirators, and some training and recordkeeping provisions. Until July 1, OSHA will not cite these requirements for establishments with workers exposed only to TB. All elements of the revoked rule continue to be enforced under the corresponding elements of the current respiratory protection standard.

OSHA published a proposed TB standard on October 17, 1997, to control occupational exposure to TB. But the agency withdrew the rule from its semiannual regulatory agenda published in the May 27, 2003, Federal Register, citing the 43% drop in reported TB cases since 1993. In addition, OSHA concluded that the risk is lower than expected because many workplaces already comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's TB guidelines, so there was no need for a new rule from OSHA.

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