Document rp3R3gBXa3vGJ8p18JYzM77oG

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service ^ J/ Centers for Disease Control National Institute for Occupational October 15, 1984 Safety and Health -- ALOSH 944 Chestnut Ridge Road SPECIAL REPORT TO RESPIRATOR USERS Morgantown, WV 26505--2888 ON NIOSH RESPIRATOR PROBLEM INVESTIGATION Between July 1, 1982, and August 1, 1984, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigated 72 reports of problems involving defects or difficulties with Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)/NIOSH-approved respirators. These reports were received from the following sources: Source of Report Number of Reports NIOSH audit 26 Fire service 21 Other government agencies 13 Industrial 9 Labor union 2 Respirator manufacturer 1 PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT Upon receipt of each report, NIOSH categorized it according to the following severity classification system: A. Report of a defect or difficulty which has caused or may cause immediate death, injury, or illness to the respirator user, such as sudden loss of breathing gas from a self-contained breathing apparatus before or during use; B. Report of a defect or difficulty which may cause future illness to the respirator user, such as lowered protection from a dust, fume, and mist respirator; C. Report of a defect or difficulty which will probably result in rejection of or refusal to use a respirator, such as high breathing resistance; and D. Report of a defect or difficulty which has no immediate or future relationship to the health and safety of the respirator user, such as an unapproved change that does n>t affect the performance of the respirator. The 72 reports, received between July 1, 1982, and August 1, 1984, were classified for severity as follows: Severity Classification A B C 0 Number of Reports 25 6 33 7 UM070527 Between July 1, 1982, and August 1, 1984, NIOSH issued 3 Respirator User Warnings and 10 Respirator User Notices, using a list of approximately 8500 Industrial Health and Safety organizations and personnel. NIOSH has been studying the effectiveness of this procedure for informing respirator users of the existence of problems involving defects or difficulties with MSHA/NIOSH-approved respirators. SC 009315 Page 2 It appears that with the valuable assistance of dedicated fire service personnel and organizations, NIOSH warnings and notices relating to fire fighting respirators rapidly reach a high percentage of persons who need that information. However, NIOSH warnings and notices relating to industrial respirators may be less effective. NIOSH will investigate ways to improve this situation during the forthcoming year. After investigating a report of a problem, NIOSH is able to more completely define it. The reports received between July 1, 1982, and August 1, 1984, are defined as follows: Defect or Difficulty_____________________________ Immediately dangerous to life or health Mechanical defect Sudden loss of breathing gas Temperature extreme Respirator leakage Not immediately dangerous to life or health Mechanical defect Service life Sorbent/filter dusting . . .. Respirator leakage Resistance Chemical effects. Gradual loss of breathing gas Packaging - Unapproved assembly \ _ Facepiece irritation Temperature extreme . . Number of Reports 15 8 2 .. 1 .w. 17 7 . . : 5, . 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 .- ......................................... ...........................................e r ~ NIOSH is continuing its program of working with respirator manufacturers and respirator users in investigation of reports of problems with MSHA/NIOSH-approved respirators. As indicated in the Guidelines for. Reporting Respirator Problems, issued July 21, 1983, NIOSH encourages users who find problems with MSHA/NIOSH-approved respirators to report them directly to the respirator manufacturer, with a copy of the report to NIOSH. NIOSH will only take an active part in resolution of the defect or difficulty if the user and manufacturer are not successful, the situation is immediately dangerous to life or health, or it is one which may appear in other respirators currently in use. The procedure of direct communication between the reporter and the manufacturer appears to be working satisfactorily. However, some reporters indicate difficulty in reaching a person at the manufacturer's facility with the authority and/or interest in resolving the problem. To assist future reporters, NIOSH has prepared the attached list of representatives of respirator manufacturers, who have been authorized to handle such reports in a timely manner. Attachment y^^John B. Moran so LAM010528 NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF PERSONS WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR INVESTIGATION PROBLEMS WITH MSHA/NIOSH-APPROVED RESPIRATORS Respirator Manufacturers Mr. William Washburn AGA Corporation 550 County Avenue Secaucus, NJ 07094 Mr. S. B. Shearer CSE Corporation 600 Seco Road Monroeville, PA 15146 Mr. Mark Theno Air-Tek Company 6472 Flying Cloud Drive Eden Prairie, MN 55344 Mr. Carl M. Fink Defense Apparel 285 Murphy Road Hartford, CT 06114 Mr. Joseph Zdrok American Optical^Corp. 14 Mechanic Street Southbridge, MA 01550 Mr. Ronald J.DeMeo Clifton Precision . . , P.0. Box 303 Frederick, Delaware 19946 <- Mr. Raymond 0. Day Mr. Robert Meyer Binks Manufacturing Co. 9201 W. Belmont Ave. Franklin Park, IL 60131. Dr. Helmut Sieber Draegerwerk AG Lubeck ^ Postfach 1339 2400 Lubeck 1 Federal Republic of Germany Mr. Willie Yung Louis M. Gerson Company 15 Sproat Street .... Middleboro, MA 02346 Mr. Joel Kaufman Glendale Opeical Co. 130 Crossways Park Drive Woodbury, NY 11797 Mr. Steve Boro E. D. Bullard Company 2680 Bridgeway Sausalito, CA 94965 Mr. Stephen H. Bates Globe Safety Equipment, Inc. PO Box 7248 Dayton, OH 45407 Mr. John B. McCreadie Cesco Safety Prod./Parmalee Ind. U. S. Safety Service Co. P.0. Box 1237 Kansas City, MO 64141. Ing. G. Cappa Industrie Pirelli SPA Azienda Articoli Vari Roma Via di Torresoaccata 140-0016 Roma, Italy Mr. Martin Ziegler Clifton Precision Division of Litton Ind. P. 0. Box 303, Rt. 113 Frederica, DE 19946 Mr. W. F. Moon Cover, H.S. Co. 107 East Alexander St. Buchanan, MI 49107. Mr. Donald M. Dawson International Safety Instruments, PO Box 846 Lawrenceville, GA 30246 Inc. Mr. Bengt Sjard Interspiro AB S-181 81 LIDINGO Sweden SC 009317 LAM010529 Mr. Ron Therrin Lane8 Industries 12704 N. E. 124th Street Kirkland, Washington 98033-4091 Mr. Earl B. Jacobson ' Nuclear Power Outfitters PO Box 84 Crystal Lake, IL 60014 Mr. Carlos E. Lean Masprot, No. 5558 San Miguel Santiago, Chile Mr. Pat Droppleman Ocenco, Incorporated 400 Academy Drive Northbrook, IL 60062 Mr. T. D. McConnell Mine Safety Appliances Company 600 Penn Center Boulevard Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235 Mr. Donald P. Wilines 3M Company 3M Center Building 230-B-06 St. Paul, MN 55144 F. Levi-Senlgaglia Pirelli Industrial Products. 6 Ram Ridge Road ' Spring Valley, NY 10977 , Mr. George Lamoy . r riv-col .iH Portable Air Supply Systems C__o__rIp 1 *. c O i.-j ; -j ' l' J 3500 Carnegie Avenue Cleveland, OH 44115 **" dr!? Mr. Albert Mints Moldex/Metries, Incorporated 4671 Leahy Street ^' Culver City, California 90230 9: " ' ... --V. K' Mr. Les Boord . J , Mr. M. D. Shroff 09MsC*1 Ji Pradeep Raja Bahadur Motilai Mansion 1st Floor 11/43 Tamarind Street x jS Fort Bombay - 400023, INDIA ^ -f x i i Mr. Jay Parker ... .rr !Z ^ _ s(> Mr. Wes Kenneweg . I. National Draeger, Inc. P. 0. Box 120 ''V T \ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230 , Pulmosan Safety Equipment Corp. ' e 30-48 Linden Place '' Flushing, NY 11354 * ' i -- _ .; : :Dr ' 7 M * i. - c , r*;. .... . .. . f ... i .ii , xr1 > ;i I :*! Mr. Stephen C. Smith Mr. Donald Burd 9 Racal Airstream, Inc. '.-,0 -.it National Mine Service Company 7309A Grove Road 600 N. Bell Ave., Bldg. 2, Ste 110 . Frederick, MD 21701 Carnegie, Pennsylvania 15106 Mr. Ben Huey Mr. Ken Vaughn Rexnord Safety Products Neoterik Health Tech., Inc. 45 Great Valley Parkway P.0. Box 78 Malvern, PA 19355 Mt. Airy, MD 21771 Mr. Walter Anderson Ms. C. E. Chappron Robertshaw Controls Co. North Safety Equipment 333 North Euclid Way 2000 Plainfield Pike Anaheim, CA 92803 Cranston, RI 02920 Mr. Gerald S. Gilbert Romiro Technology 3500 Carnegie Avenue Cleveland, OH 44115 & LAM010530 Mr. Ian V. Maxwell Sabre Safety, Ltd. Ash Road, Aldershot Hampshire, GU12 4DD England Ms Antonette Bonfiglio (Air-purifying respirators) U.S.D. Corp. 3323 Uest Harner Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92702 Mr. Ross Kusian Safety and Supply Co. 5510 East Marginal Hay South Seattle, HA 98134 Mr. Robert Brennan Scott Aviation 225 Erie Street Lancaster, N.Y. 14086 Mr. Simon Kugler Siebe Gorman, Ltd. Avondale Hay, Cwmbran, Gwent, Hales NP4 1 YR, Great Britain Mr. Brian Miller (Atmosphere-supplying respirators) U.S.D. Corp. 3323 Hest Harner Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92702 Mr. Robert Bischler Hillson Safety Products PO Box 622 Reading, PA 19603 Mr. Larry Schaefer Standard Safety Equipment Corp. P.0. Box 188 Palatine, IL 60067 Mine Safety and Health Administration Mr. Kenneth P. Klouse MSHA Approval and Certification Center PO Box 251, Route 1 Triadelphia, WV 26059 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Respirator Problem Coordinator Division of Safety Research NIOSH,CDC,PHS,HHS 944 Chestnut Ridge Road Morgantown, HV 26505 SC 009319 UM070531