[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 222 (Friday, November 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68784-68785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27898]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Standard Test Procedures Approval Process for Respirators To Be
Used in Wildland Fire-Fighting Operations; Standard Test Procedures for
Composite Multi-Gas and Particulate Protection and Approval Process for
Respirators To Be Used in Wildland Fire-Fighting Operations
AGENCY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Respirators with Composite Protection for Wildland Fire-
Fighting Operations; Notice of Testing and Evaluation.
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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)
National
[[Page 68785]]
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) intends to employ
existing provisions in 42 CFR Part 84 to test and approve air-purifying
respirators (APRs) and powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) that
provide composite multi-gas and particulate protection for inhalation
hazards associated with wildland fire-fighting. NIOSH will evaluate
candidate respirators for inhalation protections tailored against
exposures identified in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
1984 standard on respirators for wildland fire-fighting (WFF)
operations. Under 42 CFR Part 84 requirements, NIOSH approval is
necessary for the complete evaluation of WFF respirators pursuant to
NFPA 1984 (2011).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Wildland firefighting presents many hazards to firefighters,
including inhalation exposure to smoke and other combustion (fire)
byproducts. Studies indicate that most wildland firefighters work in
smoke levels that are not expected to cause health problems or exceed
legal and recommended limits.\1\ However, wildland firefighters
occasionally experience smoke levels that exceed guidelines recommended
by occupational health experts, and are higher than Federal
occupational safety and health regulations allow. Because manufacturers
have not yet developed respiratory protection for this occupational
setting, firefighters battling wild fires often resort to using devices
not approved by NIOSH, or NIOSH-approved filtering facepiece
respirators which are not designed for this use, or no respiratory
protection at all. Without a NIOSH-approved respirator designed to
protect against the combination of particulates, gases and vapors
generally produced by wildfires, firefighters cannot be sure that they
are receiving adequate or any protection at all. Filtering facepiece
respirators approved under the current NIOSH standards provide no
protection against fire gases or vapors and may structurally fail at
the elevated temperatures encountered in wildland firefighting
environments.
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\1\ See: Reinhardt,TE, Ottmar, RD. 2000. Smoke exposure at
western wildfires. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-525. Portland, OR: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest
Research Station.
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NIOSH is now accepting applications for respiratory protective
devices designed for the inhalation hazards of this occupational
setting.
On July 10, 2012 NIOSH issued a letter to manufacturers \2\
announcing that NIOSH was prepared to evaluate respirators used for
protection against the inhalation hazards identified in the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard 1984 (2011 Edition).\3\
This new evaluation will be conducted in accordance with a Memorandum
of Understanding between the NIOSH National Personal Protective
Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) and the Safety Equipment Institute (SEI),
a non-governmental non-profit organization that administers third-party
certification programs to certify a broad range of safety and
protective products. Under this MOU, NIOSH/NPPTL and SEI will
coordinate their certification programs. SEI will evaluate candidate
respirators for compliance with NFPA 1984-2011, Standard on Respirators
for Wildland Fire-Fighting Operations, which includes Tentative Interim
Amendment (TIA) No. 11-1.
Under NFPA 1984, the wildland firefighter respirator must be
approved by NIOSH as an APR or a PAPR. NIOSH has developed test
procedures for a composite particulate and multi-gas protection for APR
and PAPR approvals in accordance with 42 CFR 84.60(b); 84.63(a), (b),
(c), and (d); 84.110(c); and 84.190(b). The standard test procedures
are available upon request and will be available on the NIOSH NPPTL Web
site at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/stps/APresp.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Rehak, NIOSH National Personal
Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), P.O. Box 18070, 626 Cochrans
Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236; (412) 386-5200 (this is not a toll-
free number).
Dated: November 8, 2012.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-27898 Filed 11-15-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P