Washington — In an effort to preserve the supply of N95 filtering facepiece respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has temporarily suspended its requirement for annual respirator fit testing in the health care industry.

Durham, NC — In an effort to preserve the supply of N95 filtering facepiece respirators used by health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at Duke Health say they have successfully tested a decontamination process that allows the masks to be reused safely.

Washington — OSHA is extending its temporary leniency on annual respirator fit testing to all covered employers, not only those in the health care industry.

Bethesda, MD — Three methods to decontaminate N95 filtering facepiece respirators for reuse are being recommended by the National Institutes of Health after researchers at the agency successfully tested their effectiveness and the repeat functional integrity of the respirator after each sanitization.

Washington — In effort to preserve the supply of N95 filtering facepiece respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA is permitting the reuse of respirators that undergo certain decontamination processes, according to an April 24 temporary enforcement memo.

Washington — OSHA recently released a poster and video that detail seven steps to properly put on and remove a respirator at work.

Washington — In an effort to better protect workers in the health care and public safety sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic, NIOSH is approving a new class of powered air-purifying respirators, under an interim final rule published by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Tumwater, WA — Ethylene oxide should not be used to sterilize filtering facepiece respirators for reuse because “this extremely hazardous toxic chemical poses a severe risk to human health,” the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries warns in a new alert.

Dallas — The OSHA Region 6 Training Institute Education Centers has developed a webinar on the proper implementation of a respiratory protection program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tumwater, WA — A new e-tool from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is intended to help employers and workers choose the appropriate mask, facial covering or respirator based on the COVID-19 exposure risk level of specific job duties.

Washington — NIOSH has extended until Dec. 14 the comment period for a Request for Information on the deployment and use of elastomeric half-mask respirators in health care settings and emergency medical services organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington — NIOSH has approved – for both personal protection and source control – the first elastomeric half-mask respirator without an exhalation valve.

Washington — Prompted by an “increased domestic supply” of NIOSH-approved respirators, the Food and Drug Administration is recommending health care facilities transition away from strategies intended to conserve supplies of disposable respirators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington — Prompted by an “increased domestic supply” of NIOSH-approved respirators, the Food and Drug Administration has revoked its emergency use authorizations for non-NIOSH-approved disposable respirators as well as decontamination and bioburden reduction systems.

Pittsburgh — NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory has marked Sept. 7-10 as its annual Respiratory Protection Week, an event intended to promote proper respiratory protection practices through the sharing of related research findings and educational tools.

Washington — NIOSH has issued a pair of fact sheets on filtering facepiece respirators, detailing how to tell if an N95 is approved by the agency as well as procedures for fit testing and testing filtration efficiency.

Washington — Knowing how to select, use and maintain NIOSH-approved respirators can help promote proper respiratory protection practices and protect construction workers from unsafe airborne contaminants, according to a new toolbox talk published by the agency and CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training.

Boston — Common types of N95 respirators – widely used by health care professionals providing direct care to patients with COVID-19 – can be safely reprocessed up to 25 times to help augment supplies during future pandemics, results of a recent study by Boston researchers suggest.

Washington — The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is calling for two separate respiratory protection frameworks – one for workers, and one for the public – amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, in a recently published report.

Washington — Officials from OSHA and NIOSH joined stakeholders from industry and labor groups in a series of recent webinars to discuss a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report calling for separate respiratory protection frameworks for workers and the public.

Washington — NIOSH has selected 20 winning entries for the initial phase of its Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge.

Washington — NIOSH wants to update its estimate of the number of organizations and workers who use respirators – and evaluate the reasons behind their use.

Washington — NIOSH has chosen nine winners for the second phase of its Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge.

Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is among four lawmakers calling for Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to address their concerns over OSHA’s responses to a Government Accountability Office report, issued in November, on the health and safety of meat and poultry industry workers.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service in April approved 15 poultry processing plants’ requests to increase line speeds 25% – despite reported cases of COVID-19 among workers and at least one fatality related to the ongoing pandemic, according to a new policy brief from the National Employment Law Project.

A new resource from OSHA outlines safe procedures emergency responders should follow when facing potential combustible dust fires and explosion hazards.

Washington – A new document aims to help emergency responders safely respond to crude oil rail transportation incidents.

Washington — OSHA has created a webpage intended to educate workers about how to protect themselves in radiation-related situations ranging from a small, isolated spill in a laboratory to a potentially catastrophic release at a nuclear facility.

Itasca, IL — The National Safety Council is raising awareness of over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray for emergency treatment of opioid overdoses in the workplace.

Washington – Although the overall rate of occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work fell in 2014, the number of median days needed to recuperate increased, according to a Nov. 19 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Washington — Nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses in the U.S private sector, as well as the nonfatal injury and illness rate, decreased slightly in 2020. However, estimated injuries and illnesses that resulted in at least one day of lost work soared by nearly a third amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

This free app allows industrial hygienists and safety professionals to quickly access answers to frequently asked respiratory questions; check the 3M respirator selection guide; identify 3M facepieces, cartridges and filters; walk through an overview of qualitative fit-testing protocols; and conduct fit tests.

When emergency responders head out on a call, they may not be able to visualize the types of dangers they’re heading into. One mobile app aims to change that.

This integration enables users to move seamlessly from incident response to investigation from within a single interface.

Rapid Response fully deployed AVS-01 on Jan. 15, following two years of preparation and four months of beta testing.  

Eagle Eye Networks has launched Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing, a technology that gives Emergency Communication Center telecommunicators (911 professionals) instant access to security cameras during an emergency.

The partnership enables the companies to offer an embedded, end-to-end solution that allows GSOC operators monitoring disparate sites to generate a security response through RSPNDR with the click of a button.

Critical Response Group (CRG) and Intrado, announced the integration of CRG within Intrado’s FirstNet certified Safety Shield application.

Atlanta — As a new school year gets underway, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has released two teacher training videos as part of a campaign intended to call attention to the dangers of mercury exposure.

Washington – Several final and proposed OSHA rules – including a long-delayed update to the beryllium rule – are expected to be published in the next few months, according to the agency’s spring regulatory agenda, released May 21.

SIRAS drones are engineered for data security, performance, and affordability, making them the ideal choice for public safety, firefighting, and search and rescue missions, according to the announcement.

Respirators are vital pieces of protective equipment in many workplaces, protecting workers against harmful fumes and contaminants. But respirators cannot do their job effectively if they are not properly fitted.

OSHA requires respiratory protection to be worn whenever work is being conducted in hazardous atmospheres. Although different respirators are required in different atmospheric situations, in all cases training must be provided to employees using such devices.

Although disposable respirators cannot completely protect a worker from inhaling airborne particles, they can reduce the number of particles inhaled.

Making sure respirators are in proper working order is critical to ensuring they perform as intended. The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety recommends following a number of steps when caring for your respirator.

When a natural disaster, biological incident or other event occurs, first responders and recovery workers often rush to the scene. That means it’s crucial they have the proper personal protective equipment ready and know how to use it.

Washington — NIOSH has announced winners of the third and final phase of its Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge.