NIOSH Announces Release of IOM Report on PAPRs in Healthcare

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announces that the Institute of Medicine report, "Use and Effectiveness of Powered Air-Purifying Respirators in Health Care," was published today.

NIOSH's National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) commissioned this report in an effort to gather and compile information regarding the health care stakeholder needs. NIOSH is moving toward more contemporary approaches to updating the standard in accordance with the 1995 National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) (Public Law 104-113) to address innovative technologies and contemporary applications for PAPRs. The NTTAA directs federal agencies to work with consensus standards and not to rely solely on existing federal standards to update regulations.  

The report is being used as one of many significant inputs to revising the standards and prioritizing the performance requirements to be incorporated in the standards which is underway at this time.

Source: NIOSH