Dept. of Labor issues guidance for respiratory protection during N95 shortage

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued interim enforcement guidance to help combat supply shortages of disposable N95 filtering face piece respirators (N95 FFRs).

Due to the impact on workplace conditions caused by limited supplies of N95 FFRs, OSHA says employers should reassess engineering controls, work practices, and administrative controls to identify any changes that could decrease the need for N95 respirators. Employers may consider use of alternative classes of respirators that provide equal or greater protection compared to an N95 FFR.

Alternatives include National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-approved, non-disposable, elastomeric respirators or powered, air-purifying respirators. When these alternatives are not available, or where their use creates additional safety or health hazards, employers may consider extended use or reuse of N95 FFRs, or use of N95 FFRs that were approved but have since passed the manufacturer’s recommended shelf life, under specified conditions.

This interim guidance will take effect immediately and remain in effect until further notice, OSHA says.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.