Results of a recently completed National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study confirm the necessity of the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) respirator fit testing requirement, both annually and when physical changes have occurred.
Worldwide, millions of pregnant women wear face coverings at work, including the widely used N95 respirator with filtering face pieces or masks. The N95 respirator restricts normal airflow, so a woman may have to breathe harder while wearing it.
“I had a reporter call me,” said an attendee at this week’s American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) annual Fall Conference, held in Arlington, VA. “He said he had spent three hours at the Congressional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hearing last week, where CDC Director Tom Frieden was grilled, and not once was OSHA or NIOSH mentioned, according to this reporter. He wanted to know why.”
