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US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)

Updated Information Related to Annual Fit-Testing

New - OSHA’s Guidance on Current Fit-Testing Requirements

Click here for Tuberculosis and Respiratory Protection Enforcement

New APIC Online Community on Annual Fit-Testing

To share information or post questions about annual fit-testing, click here to join the new Annual Fit-Testing E-Community.  Remember that you must be a logged-in APIC member to participate.

OSHA’s General Industry Respiratory Protection Standard

To view the General Industry Respiratory Protection Standard, click here.

OSHA’s Online Tools Related to Respiratory Protection

Click here to go to OSHA’s online respiratory protection E-Tool which includes information about different types of respirators. 

Click here to see OSHA’s Healthcare Hazards Module on Tuberculosis.

State Plans for Occupational Safety and Health

Click here to see if there is a state plan in your state and to locate contact information.

Other Helpful Websites

Click here to access an HHS site related to pandemic influenza, which includes photographs of various types of respirators.

Click here for CDC’s Guidelines for Preventing the Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Healthcare Settings, 2005.

OSHA TB Proposed Rule

In 1997, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) developed a proposed rule designed to control occupational exposure to TB in healthcare settings, which included provisions for annual fit-testing. The following links provide background on the OSHA proposed rule, APIC testimony and comments, and the OSHA notice withdrawing the proposed TB rule and applying the General Industry Respiratory Protection Standard (GIRPS) to TB.

• Federal Register Notice, December 31, 2003 Federal Register, Full Notice
• IOM Summary of Findings IOM Echoes Concerns Expressed by APIC on Many Points of Proposed TB Rule
• APIC Comments to OSHA, February 1998 Comments on the Proposed Rule for Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis
• OSHA Proposed TB Rule (link to OSHA site) OSHA Proposed TB Rule

OSHA GIRPS

On December 31, 2003, OSHA announced that it would apply the General Industry Respiratory Protection Standard (GIRPS) to TB. This included a requirement for annual fit-testing. The following links provide background on GIRPS, APIC testimony and comments, and the OSHA directive regarding annual fit-testing moratorium.

• Wicker Fit Testing Amendment Fails
• OSHA Issues Bulletin on Annual Fit-Testing Enforcement Prohibition OSHA Directive Regarding Annual Fit-Testing Moratorium
• APIC Responds to Washington Post article Letter to the Editor, August 17, 2004
• APIC Testimony House Appropriations Subcommittee, April 20, 2004
• APIC Responds on January 21, 2004 to OSHA's Assistant Secretary of Labor, John Henshaw, Regarding GIRPS APIC’s Letter Regarding GIRPS

OSHA Fit Testing

OSHA Fit Testing Procedures (Mandatory)