The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board released its proposed aerosol transmissible disease standard Feb. 26, including a hospital-supported provision requiring biennial fit-testing for respirators.

The proposal, the first of its kind, would protect against pandemic flu and other infectious diseases. It includes communication procedures, disease exposure control plans, fit-testing, medical surveillance, and respiratory protection.

The respiratory protection requirements under the proposal require annual fit-testing of employees after Jan. 1, 2014, until which time employers can do so on a biennial basis. Hospitals fought for the biennial exception, noting in testimony the provision “will save the health care systems millions of dollars.”

According to a Cal/OSHA official, the revised exception balances the biennial requirement and labor unions' opposition to the fit-testing interval, which they say should occur annually. Under the new provision, employers must conduct fit-test screenings, more like an informal respiratory protection checkup, during off years, the official said.

The revised standard now also includes a new appendix at the end of the rule, requested by labor unions, that allows an employee to request and receive a fit test before two years if he or she believes it is necessary to ensure the respirator fits correctly.

Comments on the proposed rule are due by March 15 to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, 2520 Venture Oaks Way, Suite 350, Sacramento, Calif. 95833 or may be e-mailed to oshsb@dir.ca.gov.

Copyright 2009, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.