NIOSH Requests Feedback on Stockpiling Respirators, Surgical Gowns

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces a request for information regarding facilities that stockpile N95 respirators and Level 3 and Level 4 protective surgical gowns.

NIOSH is seeking information about personal protective equipment (PPE) environmental storage conditions and inventory for federal, city, state, municipal, county and hospital system stockpiles.

Specifically, NIOSH wans to know:
1. What type of stockpile are you affiliated with (e.g., federal, state, county)?
2. Who are the end users of the stockpiled products (e.g., healthcare workers, public)?
3. What environmental controls are implemented for the stockpiled PPE? For example, does the stockpile employ controls against humidity, temperature, sunlight, dust, or chemical exposure?
4. Are N95 respirators and Level 3 and Level 4 protective surgical gowns monitored for deterioration?
5. Are PPE products rotated?
6. Is PPE purchased from resellers?
7. What types of environmental controls are available in the shipping environment?
8. What are the brands, models, and quantity of your stockpiled N95 respirator and Level 3 and Level 4 protective surgical gown inventory?

The information you provide will assist NIOSH in identifying important factors to focus a future research study. In this future research study, NIOSH plans to sample N95 respirators and Level 3 and Level 4 protective surgical gowns from stockpiles and test them against established performance standards. NIOSH seeks to determine if certain stockpile conditions impact PPE performance and whether the shelf life of stockpiled PPE can be extended based on laboratory testing data. The information you provide will help NIOSH ensure that the study findings are broadly applicable to U.S. stockpiles.

Electronic or written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on April 24, 2017.

Participants may submit comments, identified by CDC-2017-0024 and docket number NIOSH-297, by any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH Docket Office, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS C-34, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226-1998.

All information received in response to this notice must include the agency name and docket number [CDC-2017-0024; NIOSH-297]. All relevant comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.

Source: NIOSH