PDFWAC 296-307-598
Voluntary respirator use requirements.
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. | WAC 296-307-59805 |
Keep voluntary use respirator program records. | WAC 296-307-59810 |
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.