Allowing Employees to Voluntarily Wear Dust or Surgical Masks and the Coronavirus

With the growing concern about the COVID-19/Coronavirus employers may have employees who express a desire to wear a respirator or mask in the workplace. If the employer allows employees to wear a respirator or a surgical mask certain sections of the OSHA respiratory protection standard may apply.

The most common type of respirator employees will ask to wear is a dust mask which may be labeled as a NIOSH N95 respirator. These are defined by OSHA as “a negative pressure particulate respirator with a filter as an integral part of the facepiece or with the entire facepiece composed of the filtering medium”. If the employer allows employees to voluntarily wear a filtering facepiece 1910.134(c)(2) applies.

The employer must:
 Determine wearing such a respirator will not, in itself, create a hazard.
 Provide a copy of 1910.134 Appendix D Information for Employees Using Respirators When Not Required Under the Standard.

If the employer allows the voluntary use of any other type of respirator additional requirements in 1910.134(c)(2)(ii) must also be met.

If the employer allows employees to wear a surgical mask the mask should be kept clean and worn properly. However, the OSHA Respiratory Protection standard does not regulate the use of these masks
when worn voluntarily unless they are worn in a medical setting.

Links:
OSHA Video on the difference between Respirators and Surgical Mask
OSHA Interpretation letter on use of Surgical Masks
OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard 1910.134
OSHA 1910.134 Appendix D Information for Employees Using Respirators When Not Required Under the Standard
CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) FAQ

For more advice on safety, please reach out to FDRsafety.