Following the requirements of a separate chapter, Emergency response, chapter 296-824 WAC, will meet the requirements for emergency procedures.

Training is not required for employees when you have conclusive documentation that they cannot be exposed to formaldehyde at airborne concentrations above 0.1 parts per million (ppm).

For respirator requirements, turn to Respirators, WAC 296-856-40060.

• Exposure monitoring is not necessary if you have documentation conclusively demonstrating that employee exposure for a particular material and the operation where it is used, cannot exceed the action level (AL) or short-term exposure limit (STEL) during any conditions reasonably anticipated.

 

• Such documentation can be based on observations, data, calculations, and previous air monitoring results. Previous air monitoring results:

 

– Must meet the accuracy required by Step 5.

 

– Must be based on data that represents conditions being evaluated in your workplace.

 

– May be from outside sources, such as industry or labor studies.

Identify all employees who have potential exposure to airborne formaldehyde in your workplace.

Identify operations where employee exposures could exceed the 15-minute short-term exposure limit (STEL) for formaldehyde of 2 parts per million (ppm).

You may use monitoring devices such as colorimetric indicator tubes or real-time monitors to screen for activities where employee exposures could exceed the STEL.

Select employees from those working in the operations you identified in Step 2 who will have their 15-minute exposures monitored.

Select employees from those identified in Step 1 who will have their 8-hour exposures monitored.

 

– Make sure the exposures of the employees selected represent 8-hour exposures for all employees identified in Step 1, including each job activity, work area, and shift.

 

■ If you expect exposures to be below the action level (AL), you may limit your selection to those employees reasonably believed to have the highest exposures.

 

■ If you find any of those employees' exposure to be above the AL, then you need to repeat monitoring to include each job activity, work area, and shift.

A written description of the procedure used for obtaining representative employee exposure monitoring results needs to be kept as part of your exposure records, as required by Exposure records, WAC 296-856-20070.

 

– This description can be created while completing Steps 3 through 6 of this exposure evaluation process.

Determine how you will obtain accurate employee exposure monitoring results. Select and use an air monitoring method with a confidence level of 95 percent, that is accurate to:

 

– ±25 percent when concentrations are potentially above the TWA of 0.75 parts per million (ppm).

 

– ±25 percent when concentrations are potentially above the STEL of 2 ppm.

 

– ±35 percent when concentrations are potentially above the AL.

• Here are examples of air monitoring methods that meet this accuracy requirement:

 

– OSHA Method 52 found at http://www.osha.gov/dts/sltc/methods/toc.html.

 

– NIOSH methods: 2016, 2514, 3500, 2539, and 5700, found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html and linking to the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods.

 

– Direct reading methods found at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/formaldehyde/index.html

Obtain employee exposure monitoring results by collecting air samples to accurately determine the formaldehyde exposure of employees identified in Steps 3 and 4.

 

– Make sure samples are collected from each selected employee's breathing zone.

• You may use any sampling method that meets the accuracy specified in Step 5. Examples of these methods include:

 

– Real-time monitors that provide immediate exposure monitoring results.

 

– Equipment that collects samples that are sent to a laboratory for analysis.

 

• The following are examples of methods for collecting samples representative of 8-hour exposures.

 

– Collect one or more continuous samples, such as a single 8-hour sample or four 2-hour samples.

 

– Take a minimum of 5 brief samples, such as five 15-minute samples, during the work shift at randomly selected times.

 

• For work shifts longer than 8 hours, monitor the continuous 8-hour portion of the shift expected to have the highest average exposure concentration.

Have the samples you collected analyzed to obtain employee exposure monitoring results for 8-hour and short-term exposure limits (STEL) exposures.

 

– Determine if employee exposure monitoring results are above or below the following values:

 

■ 8-hour action level (AL) of 0.5 ppm.

 

■ 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA8) of 0.75 ppm.

 

■ 15-minute short-term exposure limit (STEL) of 2 ppm.

To use the monitoring results to determine which additional chapter sections apply to employee exposure in your workplace, turn to the Scope, WAC 296-856-100, and follow Table 1 in that section.

• You may contact your local WISHA consultant for help with:

 

– Interpreting data or other information.

 

– Determining 8-hour employee exposure monitoring results.

 

• To contact a WISHA consultant:

 

– Go to the safety and health core rules, chapter 296-800 WAC; and

 

– Find the resources section, and under "other resources," find service locations for labor and industries.

• You can notify employees either individually or post the notifications in areas readily accessible to affected employees.

 

• Posted notification may need specific information that allows affected employees to determine which monitoring results apply to them.

 

• Notification may be:

 

– In any written form, such as handwritten or email.

 

– Limited to the required information, such as exposure monitoring results.

 

• When notifying employees about corrective actions, your notification may refer them to a separate document that is available and provides the required information.

Periodic employee exposure monitoring is not required if exposure monitoring results conducted to fulfill requirements in this chapter, Exposure evaluations, WAC 296-856-20050, are below both the action level (AL) and 15-minute short-term exposure limit (STEL).

If you document that one work shift consistently has higher exposure monitoring results than another for a particular operation, then you may limit sample collection to the work shift with higher exposures and use those results to represent all employees performing the operation on other shifts.

Signs and symptoms are rarely associated with formaldehyde concentrations in air less than 0.1 parts per million (ppm), and in materials at concentration levels less than 0.1 percent.

• Employees who decline to receive a medical evaluation to monitor for health effects caused by formaldehyde are not excluded from receiving a separate medical evaluation for respirator use.

 

• If employers discourage participation in medical monitoring for health effects caused by formaldehyde, or in any way interferes with an employee's decision to continue with this program, this interference may represent unlawful discrimination under RCW 49.17.160, Discrimination against employee filing complaint, instituting proceedings, or testifying prohibited—Procedure—Remedy.

The LHCP must be a licensed physician or supervised by a physician.

If the written opinion contains specific findings or diagnoses unrelated to occupational exposure, send it back and obtain a revised version without the additional information.

Medical removal or restrictions do not apply when skin irritation or skin sensitization occurs from products that contain less than 0.05 percent of formaldehyde.

When the employee is exposed to products containing less than 0.1 percent formaldehyde, the LHCP can assume, absent of contrary evidence, that employee signs and symptoms are not due to formaldehyde exposure.

• If you must provide medical removal benefits and the employee will receive compensation for lost pay from other sources, you may reduce your medical removal benefit obligation to offset the amount provided by these sources.

 

• Examples of other sources are:

 

– Public or employer-funded compensation programs.

 

– Employment by another employer, made possible by the employee's removal.

Notification may be provided in writing or by verbal communication.

This process allows for selection of a second LHCP and, when disagreements between LHCPs persist, for selection of a third LHCP.

• Employee medical records need to be maintained in a confidential manner. The medical provider may keep these records for you.

 

• Medical records may only be accessed with the employee's written consent.

This requirement does not prevent you from posting other signs.

• When identifying the boundaries of exposure control areas you should consider factors such as:

 

– The level and duration of airborne exposure.

 

– Whether the area is permanent or temporary.

 

– The number of employees in adjacent areas.

 

• You may use permanent or temporary enclosures, caution tape, ropes, painted lines on surfaces, or other materials to visibly distinguish exposure control areas or separate them from the rest of the workplace.