Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 008B Hazard:

29 CFR 1910.1025(f)(1): For employees who used respirators required by 29 CFR 1910.1025, the employer did not provide each employee an appropriate respirator that complied with the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1025(f): The employer did not provide the appropriate respirator per the OSHA standard in that: a) On or about June 27, 2022, the employer provided Moldex half-face respirators to employees working in the bead wire department. Half-face respirators have a protection factor of ten times the Permissible Exposure Level (PEL). b) On August 19, 2022, employees were wearing Moldex 9000 series full-face respirators. Moldex states that the full-face respirator has a protection factor of 50 times the PEL only if quantitative fit testing was performed. The employer uses the irritant smoke qualitative fit test protocol. Monitoring on August 19, 2022 revealed exposures that were twenty to thirty times the PEL and personal air monitoring of the employees cleaning the lead pot on 8/19/2022 revealed the following results: Employee; Time; actual ug/m3 exposure; 8-hr Time-weighted exposure; Comparison to 50 ug/m3 PEL a) Operator; 270 min; 2,817 ug/M3 actual; 1,584.8 ug/M3 8-hr TWA; 31.7 times the PEL b) Bead Wire Lead; 285 min; 1,791 ug/M3 actual; 1,063.6 ug/M3 8-hr TWA; 21.3 times the PEL c) Operator; 420 min; 1,339.7ug/M3 actual; 1,172.2 ug/M3 8-hr TWA; 23.4 times the PEL d) Operator; 397 min; 73.85 ug/M3 actual; 61.1 ug/M3 8-hr TWA; 1.2 times the PEL e) Operator; 255 min; 2,200 ug/M3 actual; 1,168.8 ug/M3 8-hr TWA; 3.4 times the PEL