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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Respirator physicals? Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at 1:58:15 PM Author: John Callen <jbcallen**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>

Next by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Respirator physicals? Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2020 20:54:01 +0000 Author: Yaritza Brinker

Tim & ALL,

You are more than welcome!

Adding to what Yaritza Binker (Thank you Yaritza!) has given you in the back-to-back eMails below with factual information and corresponding references, you should have enough ammunition to counter company management and legal counsel. Reaching out to OSHA and/or consultants would definitely help.

IÕm not an expert in ventilation and I would certainly defer to D. Jeff Burton, Roger O. McClellan and others, but realize that that 6Õ number is based upon air movement or velocity equalling ZERO. So regardless of whether workers are side-by-side, 6Õ, 12Õ or more apart from one another, the key consideration is always going to be the results from a workplace assessment which would include monitoring the air quality for contaminants. Monitoring the air quality for exposure to asbestos, benzene, beryllium, cadmium, É , and vinyl chloride is easy to do and COVID-19 not so easy to do. ThatÕs why some believe that blood and antigen body testing may be better for bioaerosols. In lieu of bioaerosol testing, you may want to base your decisions on an assumption that EVERYONE has COVID-19 in much the same way that healthcare institutions in the 1980Õs and early 1990Õs believed that ANYONE & EVERYONE who walked into their premises had HIV/AIDS.

Also, your query could not have come at a more opportune time with the publication today of August 2020 issue of Industrial Safety & Hygiene News (ISHN) and Dan MarkiewiczÕ Column ÒManaging Best PracticesÓ topic, ÒCheck your OHS Legal requirements.Ó

https://digital.bnpmedia.com/publication/?m=12104&i=668546&p=8&oly_enc_id=6012A4682290A6Z

The four key words as a take-away from the article are ÒGENERAL DUTY CLAUSEÓ and ÒNEGLIGENCE.Ó NEGLIGENCE and ÒFAILURE to WARN or TAKE ACTIONÓ are words your legal counsel should know about.

Ber Safe, Secure & Sound, Vigilant and Well!

All My Best,

John B. Callen, Ph.D.
3M Personal Safety Division - Retired
(312) 632-0195

On Aug 12, 2020, at 3:54 PM, Yaritza Brinker wrote:

OSHA standards are not really standards, they are requirements written into the CFR. OSHA guidance documents, in multiple places, reinforce the fact that N95s are respirators and must be issued within the framework of a respiratory protection program.

HereÕs a link to OSHAÕs National News Release from June. https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/national/06102020

Here is a link to OSHAÕs Covid-19 FAQÕs page. Go to the Cloth Face Coverings section. It explains the distinction between the different types of masks and respirators, with CFR cross-references. https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/covid-19-faq.html#ppe

Here is a link to OSHAÕs Mask Fact Sheet. https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3219.pdf

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