The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z88 Committee on Respiratory Protection, with the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) as its secretariat, is nearing completion of a final voluntary consensus standard entitled "Standard Practices for Respiratory Protection" (ANSI/AIHA Z88.2). This standard has important bearing on the debate about regulatory steps recently announced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The Z88 Committee approved a final draft by a consensus vote, and a concurrent public review process recently concluded. ANSI procedures now require that the committee address the substance of any negative votes, as well as any substantive comments received through the public review process, before the final draft becomes an American National Standard.

This draft standard is of special interest because it can help inform the public debate about the primary issue in the recent OSHA proposal to amend its respiratory protection standard -- the question of assigned protection factors (APF). APFs are the main factor used by thousands of employers when they select respirators to protect workers from different airborne hazards throughout the nation. The draft ANSI standard recently approved by the Z88 Committee recommends protective factors that are very similar to those in OSHA's proposal, except for a more conservative APF for filtering facepieces (disposable respirators).

The draft standard approved by the committee also addresses many other issues of key importance to the proper use of respiratory protection in the workplace and of interest to stakeholders, including:

• Requirements for respiratory protection programs;
• Standard operating procedures for programs;
• Selection, limitation, and use of respirators;
• Training;
• Fit testing;
• Maintenance, inspection, storage, and disposal;
• Breathing air and oxygen-deficient atmospheres; and,
• Recordkeeping.

Interested parties can obtain additional information about this standard and other activities of the ANSI Z88 Committee on Respiratory Protection at Z88 Accredited Standards Committee, Respiratory Standards.