Why is LEVEL B protection recommended for initial response to a chemical spill?
LEVEL B protection is the level of protection used as a standard throughout industry in the US when dealing with a poorly or incompletely characterized spill situation. Until such time in a spill response that the scene is fully characterized, by monitoring or in the judgement of an appropriately trained person, the protection offered by SCBA should be used. In 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(3)(iv), OSHA requires the following: Employees engaged in emergency response and exposed to hazardous substances presenting an inhalation hazard or potential inhalation hazard shall wear positive-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus while engaged in emergency response, until such time that the individual in charge of the Incident Command Center (ICS) determines through use of air monitoring that a decreased level of respiratory protection will not result in hazardous exposures to employees. Based on this language, it is our opinion that the MSDS must recommend LEVEL B protection for all but the lowest r
