This guidance document provides regulatory background and a model respiratory program form that addresses the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA’s) Respiratory Protection Program Standard (29 CFR §1910.134) that applies to all respirator use in general industry and construction workplaces. The standard applies when (1) employees are required to wear respirators to protect themselves from exposure to air contaminants above a specific exposure limit, (2) if the employer requires respirators to be worn, or (3) if respirators are otherwise necessary to protect employee health.
Additionally, limited requirements apply when employees, for personal, comfort, or other reasons, voluntarily choose to wear certain kinds of air-purifying respirators (APR). The standard affirms OSHA’s long-standing policy that personal protective equipment (PPE) – in this instance, respirators - are the last line of defense when engineering and work practice controls are inadequate to reduce employee exposure, or during the development and installation of other controls.