TB & Respiratory Masks

An interesting two-day story, chronicled by The Pump Handle, about OSHA enforcement of guidelines for respiratory masks for first responders and health care workers:

• Day 1: “[T]he House of Representatives will very soon (perhaps later today) be voting on an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill that would prohibit OSHA from fully enforcing its respiratory protection standard to protect health care workers and first responders from tuberculosis. It would exempt tuberculosis exposures from the requirement for an annual fit test to make sure the respirator fits and protects the worker from exposure.”
• Day 2: “We’ve just learned that Rep. Wicker has backed down. In the face of well-organized opposition (unions and the public health community) armed with a very strong argument that the policy he was proposing was dangerous, Rep. Wicker has dropped his amendment.”

–BC