Respiratory Protection Resources

In 2015 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revised its Worker Protection Standard (WPS) at 40 CFR 170.507 (b)(10) and adopted a subset of OSHA’s Standard for Respiratory Protection (29 CFR 1910.134). EPA’s revised rule cross references and requires compliance with the OSHA standards for medical evaluation, fit testing, and training but only in the circumstance that they will be using a pesticide  whose label requires the use of a respirator. This provision pertains to private applicators, commercial applicators, or neither; agricultural employers and members of the owner’s immediate family must also receive these protections if they will be handling any pesticide whose label requires the use of respiratory protection.

Respiratory Protection for Occupational Users of PesticidesRespiratory Protection for Occupational Users of Pesticides.

Rutgers University New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin E358. Mar 30, 2018. 27 pp.

This publication provides pesticide applicators with a comprehensive source of information and guidance on the selection and safe use of respiratory protection for pesticides in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations, including EPA’s Revised Worker Protection Standard (40 CFR Part 170) and OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134). This document addresses respiratory protection for both commercial and private applicators. It’s a helpful reference for anyone looking to clearly understand the jurisdictions of OSHA versus EPA in the use of pesticides by handlers.  It is indexed by section with original photography, includes a detailed glossary of terms, as well as  a list of all references used in the preparation of the document. Print copies of Bulletin E358 in glossy booklet form are available for order from the National Pesticide Safety Education Center store.

See the table at the bottom of this page for excerpted tables from the Bulletin plus English and Spanish resources.

EPA WPS Respiratory and Recordkeeping Requirements for Agricultural Employers of Pesticide Handlers.

Rutgers University New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin E372 · Feb 23, 2022. 10 pp.

This document addresses EPA’s revisions to the WPS requiring recordkeeping not currently required by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. This companion bulletin to NJAES E358 “Respiratory Protection for Occupational Users of Pesticides” is specifically targeted at agricultural employers responsible for providing respiratory protection for handlers using WPS-labeled pesticides. It complements and enhances Bulletin E358 which was targeted at any pesticide users required to wear a respirator by the product label.

NJAES Bulletin E372 is indexed, and provides growers with a useful table that compares OSHA versus EPA requirements for 1) medical evaluation, 2) fit testing, and 3) training of those handlers that are required to use respiratory protection by the label of the pesticides that they use.  E372 also provides growers with templates (see table below to download) for both fit test records and respirator training. In addition, E732 provides a sample medical clearance form for reference (see table below).

See the table below to download  the two bulletins in part or whole with quick links to forms and tables.