This guidance document provides local, State and Federal emergency response entities with comparison information on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration/ Environmental Protection Agency (OSHA/EPA) Protection Levels A, B, and C to De¬partment of Homeland Security (DHS) adopted Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) performance based standards for response to terrorism incidents involving Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) hazards.

Background
Proper selection of PPE for individual responders must be based upon a careful as¬sessment of two factors: (1) the hazards anticipated to be present, or are present at the scene and (2) the probable impact of those hazards, based upon the mission role of the individual. The emergency responder must be provided with appropriate respiratory and dermal protection from suspect or known CBRN hazards. The amount of protec¬tion required is material and hazard specific. Physical and durability properties for PPE must meet or exceed minimum requirements for operations at a CBRN terrorism incident scene. The selection of appropriate PPE is the responsibility of the Incident Commander and/or the on-scene Safety Officer. A written personal protective equip¬ment program must be established in accordance with the Hazardous Waste Opera¬tions and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER), Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 1910.120.

Appendix B of the HAZWOPER standard defines the OSHA/EPA Protection Levels A, B, and C as follows:

• Level A—To be selected where the hazards are unknown or unquantifiable or when the greatest level of skin, respiratory and eye protection is required
• Level B—The highest level of respiratory protection is necessary but a lesser level of skin protection is needed
• Level C—The concentration(s) and type(s) of airborne substances is known and the criteria for using air-purifying respirators are met

However, the description of these levels do not specify minimum performance criteria of protective clothing and respirators required for specific threats, such as chemical permeation resistance and the contaminants’ physical properties and characteristics. The use of these general “levels” of protection does not assure that the wearer is ade¬quately protected from CBRN specific hazards. The HAZWOPER standard itself states that the generic descriptions of the equipment do not fully address the performance of PPE in relationship to specific needs.

Relying solely on PPE being marketed on the basis of OSHA/EPA PPE levels could result in exposure levels above acceptable limits, or an unnecessary reduction in op¬erational effectiveness through lack of mobility, decreased dexterity, or reduced opera¬tional mission duration.

Currently, no single personal protective ensemble can protect the wearer from ex¬posure to all hazards. It is important that the appropriate combination of respirator, protective ensemble and other equipment be selected based on a conclusive hazard assessment at the scene. This guidance document provides information on NIOSH CBRN respirator standards and NFPA protective ensembles standards that establish minimum performance requirements for PPE for use in CBRN terrorism incident response.

Source for the full publication: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2008-132/pdfs/2008-132.pdf