Q: How often are medical evaluations required to be performed? The health care company said they need to be completed every year. We thought it was every two years. Can you clarify?
A: OSHA doesn’t require the medical evaluations to be performed annually or biannually. Instead, OSHA’s requirements for additional evaluations are as follows:
- If the employee reports signs or symptoms that are related to the ability to use a respirator
- If the physician, supervisor, or program administrator informs the employer that an employee needs to be reevaluated
- If information from the respiratory protection program, including observations made during fit testing and program evaluation, indicates a need for employee reevaluation; or
- A change occurs in workplace conditions (e.g., physical work effort, protective clothing, and temperature) that may result in a substantial increase in the physiological burden placed on an employee.
OSHA does require fit testing to be performed at least annually. Double check with the health care company to make sure they meant the evaluations and not fit tests.
