NIOSH extends the 12/31/2012 deadline for completing Refresher courses

Please go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/spirometry/training.html to find NIOSH's extension of the deadline for completing a NIOSH-approved Spirometry Refresher Course to extend spirometry course certification by 5 years.

This extended deadline is available to "Technicians whose NIOSH-Approved Spirometry Course certificates are dated January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2007." Technicians with courses completed after this date range must complete their Refresher course within 5 years of their NIOSH-approved course date, with a 3 month grace period likely to be allowed.

New Program Change: Extension of Spirometry Refresher Training Deadline

Technicians whose NIOSH-Approved Spirometry Course certificates are dated January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2007, are eligible to complete a NIOSH-Approved Spirometry Refresher Course by March 31, 2013, to maintain a valid NIOSH-Approved Spirometry Course certificate.

Technicians with NIOSH-Approved Spirometry Course certificates dated prior to January 1, 2000, are not eligible to take a NIOSH-Approved Spirometry Refresher Course.

What is the NIOSH-approved spirometry training course?

The Cotton Dust Standard [29 CFR 1910.1043], promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) gives the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) the responsibility to approve courses in spirometry for instruction of those individuals who will be administering screening pulmonary function testing to employees who are exposed to cotton dust. In addition, Appendix D of the Cotton Dust Standard specified minimal requirements for valid spirometry testing in the occupational setting of the cotton processing industry. These spirometry training and testing criteria have been widely accepted for testing workers in occupational settings beyond the cotton industry.

NIOSH approves a spirometry training course when it determines that the course meets the minimum OSHA/NIOSH criteria for the instruction of individuals who perform spirometry in the cotton textile industry. Course approval does not mean that an individual taking the course is certified as a pulmonary function technician. Upon successful completion of a NIOSH-approved course, students are provided with a course certificate by the course director.