Respirator Use in Health Care Workplaces:  Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Diseases Standard

California passed the first occupational standard in the nation to prevent worker illness from infectious diseases that can be transmitted by inhaling air that contains viruses, bacteria or other disease organisms. The Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Diseases standard was designed to make recommended public health practices in infection control legally enforceable. It applies to workplaces at high risk for infectious diseases such as hospitals, clinics, emergency medical services, laboratories, prisons and homeless shelters.

Employer requirements include written aerosol transmissible disease exposure control procedures, infection control measures, employee training, medical services and recordkeeping. Where engineering and work practice controls do not provide adequate protection, the standard requires that respiratory protection be used to protect workers performing certain tasks from exposure to aerosol transmissible diseases.

Listed below are links to the Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) Standard and its appendices on the Cal/OSHA website.

Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) Standard (standard without appendices) – Title 8 CCR; Section 5199

ATD Standard Appendix A: Aerosol Transmissible Diseases/Pathogens

ATD Standard Appendix B: Alternate Medical Evaluation Questionnaire

ATD Standard Appendix C-1: Vaccination Declination Statement

ATD Standard Appendix C-2: Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Declination Statement

ATD Standard Appendix D: Aerosol Transmissible Pathogens – Laboratory

ATD Standard Appendix E: Aerosol Transmissible Disease Vaccination

ATD Standard Appendix F: Sample Screening Criteria (if health care provider unavailable)

ATD Standard Appendix G: Information for Respirator Fit Test Screening