Respiratory Protection §1910.134(h)

Maintenance and Care of Respirators

Storage. The employer must ensure that respirators are stored in compartments or in covers that are clearly marked as containing emergency respirators.

Inspection. For respirators maintained for emergency use, the employer must:

• Certify the respirator by documenting the date the inspection was performed, the name (or signature) of the person who made the inspection, the findings, required remedial action, and a serial number or other means of identifying the inspected respirator; and
• Provide this information on a tag or label that is attached to the storage compartment for the respirator, is kept with the respirator, or is included in inspection reports stored as paper or electronic files. This information shall be maintained until replaced following a subsequent certification.

§1910.134(i)

Breathing Air Quality and Use

The employer must ensure that cylinders of purchased breathing air have a certificate of analysis from the supplier that the breathing air meets the requirements for Type 1-Grade D breathing air.

Compressors used to supply breathing air to respirators must have a tag containing the most recent change date and the signature of the person authorized by the employer to perform the change. The tag shall be maintained at the compressor.

Breathing gas containers marked in accordance with the NIOSH respirator certification standard, 42 CFR part 84 must be used.

§1910.134(j)

Identification of Filters, Cartridges, and Canisters

All filters, cartridges and canisters used in the workplace must be labeled and color coded with the NIOSH approval label. Labels must not be removed and remain legible.

Respiratory Protection for M. Tuberculosis §1910.139(d)(4); (f)(5); (g)(1)–(6)

Breathing Gas Containers

Breathing gas containers have to be marked according to:

• American National Standard method of Marking Portable Compressed Gas Containers to Identify the Material Contained, Z48.12-1965;
• Federal Specification BB-A-1034a, June 21, 1968, Air, Compressed for Breathing Purposes; or
• Interim Federal Specification GG-B-00675b, April 27, 1965, Breathing Apparatus, Self-Contained.

Respirator Storage

Respirators placed at stations and work areas for emergency use should be quickly accessible at all times and should be stored in compartments built for this purpose. The compartments should be clearly marked.

Gas Mask Canister Identification

There are two ways to identify a gas mask canister:

• By means of properly worded labels, and
• By a color code.

Canisters that have a special high efficiency filter for protection against radionuclides and other highly toxic particulates must be labeled with a statement of the type and degree of protection afforded by the filter.

The label has to be put on the neck end of, or on the gray stripe which is around and near the top of the canister.

Each canister has to have a label warning that gas masks should be used only in atmospheres containing sufficient oxygen to support life (at least 16 percent by volume).

Each gas mask canister must be painted a distinctive color or combination of colors indicated in the following table:

All colors used must be clearly identifiable by the user and clearly distinguishable from one another. The color coating used shall offer a high degree of resistance to chipping, scaling, peeling, blistering, fading, and the effects of the ordinary atmospheres to which they may be exposed under normal conditions of storage and use. Appropriately colored pressure sensitive tape may be used for the stripes.