As further guidance during the N95 respirator shortage, OSHA released a list of standards from other countries for alternative respirators and filters certified outside the U.S.
This guidance is for N95 filtering face piece respirators either certified under standards of other countries or certified under other countries’ standards but expired.
According to the Department of Labor, employers can consider using respirators and filters certified under:
- Australia’s AS/NZS 1716:2012
- Brazil’s ABNT/NBR 13694:1996, ABNT/NBR 13697:1996 and ABNT/NBR 13698:2011
- China’s GB 2626-2006 and GB 2626-2019
- European Union’s EN 140-1999, EN 143-2000 and EN 149-2001
Japan’s JMHLW-2000 - South Korea’s KMOEL-2014-46 and KMOEL-2017-64, and
- Mexico’s NOM-116-2009.
This latest guidance is effective immediately and will remain in effect until further notice. It is additional to OSHA’s previous guidance on the N95 respirator shortage.
OSHA reminds employers to also reassess engineering controls, work practices and administrative controls to identify changes which can be made to decrease the need for N95 respirators during the shortage and COVID-19 outbreak.