W EEKLY EDITION AUG 23, 2017
What You Need to Know about
Formaldehyde …continued
By PSAI Executive Director Karleen Kos
OSHA Requirements Pertaining to Formaldehyde
The following requirements have been in place for employers
who use formaldehyde in their businesses since 1992, which is
the last time OSHA fully updated rule 29 CFR 1910.1048 related
to formaldehyde use in the workplace.
• The permissible exposure level for formaldehyde is 0.75 ppm (part per million) as an 8 - hour time - weighted
average (TWA).
• Employers must assure that no employee is exposed to an airborne concentration of formaldehyde that
exceeds two parts formaldehyde per million parts of air (2 ppm) as a 15 - minute short term exposure limit
(STEL).
• Employers whose workplaces use formaldehyde are required to monitor employees to determine their
exposure to formaldehyde. Employers must identify all workers who can be exposed to formaldehyde and
either monitor them individually or by taking a representative sample to show their exposure doesn't exceed
the allowable limits.
• Ongoing monitoring must occur every 6 - 12 months depending on the prior level. Monitoring must also occur
whenever there is a change in production, equipment, process, personnel, or control measures which may
result in new or additional exposure to formaldehyde.
• Affected employees or their representatives must be allowed to observe the monitoring.
• Within 15 w orking days after the receipt of the results of any monitoring performed under this section, the
employer must notify each affected employee of these results either individually in writing or by posting the
results in an appropriate location that is access ible to employees. If employee exposure is above the PEL,
affected employees must be provided with a description of the corrective actions being taken by the
employer to decrease exposure.
• If an area of the workplace has high concentrations of airborne for maldehyde, employers must provide
protective clothing, limit access, and post signage warning of exposure. If it is particularly high, the employer
must provide respiration equipment. In portable sanitation, this is unlikely.
• There is an exception to the a bove monitoring requirements. If the employer documents, using objective
data, that the presence of formaldehyde or formaldehyde - releasing products in the workplace cannot result in
airborne concentrations of formaldehyde that would cause any employee to b e exposed at or above the
action level or the STEL under foreseeable conditions of use, the employer will not be required to measure
employee exposure to formaldehyde. Portable sanitation companies should discuss this documentation
requirement with their s upplier of formaldehyde - based deodorizers and determine how the manufacturer
may be able to assist you in obtaining this data if it exists for their products.
Additional sections of federal code pertaining to worker safety also apply here. Employers need to comply with the
provisions of 29 CFR 1910.132 and 29 CFR 1910.133 which require that they provide protective clothing and
eye/face protection meeting federal standards. Employers need to provide these protective devices at no cost to the
employee and as sure that the employee wears them.
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