Voluntary Use of N95 Respirators in California: The Appendix D Trap
“We don’t require respirators. We just keep a box of N95s by the door so anyone who wants one can grab one. That’s voluntary use, right?”
The conversation usually starts with a version of this line: “We don’t require respirators. We just keep a box of N95s by the door so anyone who wants one can grab one. That’s voluntary use, right? No paperwork needed.”
It’s the most common misread of Cal/OSHA Title 8 §5144 we encounter in the field. “Voluntary” is a real regulatory category, and it does carry lighter obligations than required use. But it is not “no paperwork.” The moment your facility makes respirators available, Cal/OSHA Appendix D obligations attach, and there are situations where what your workers think is voluntary is treated as mandatory under the regulation. The gap between what employers assume and what §5144 actually requires is one of the cleanest deficiencies a Cal/OSHA inspector can write up.
This piece explains the voluntary-use rules under §5144, the Appendix D acknowledgment that applies even when respirator use is not required, and the specific situation where “voluntary” provisions stop applying entirely. For the full picture of how respirator programs work in California, see our respirator fit testing and respiratory protection program guide.
What “Voluntary Use” Means Under §5144
Cal/OSHA §5144 distinguishes three categories of respirator use:
Required use.
The employer requires the respirator because exposure conditions, a Cal/OSHA standard, or the written program calls for it. Full program compliance applies: written program, medical clearance, fit testing, training, with fit testing and training renewed annually.
Voluntary use of a filtering facepiece respirator (N95 or similar dust mask).
The employer permits the worker to use one for personal comfort even though exposure conditions don’t require it. Most of the §5144 program does not apply, but Appendix D obligations still do.
Voluntary use of any other respirator
(elastomeric half-mask, full-facepiece, supplied-air). Treated more like required use: the employer still owes a written program element, medical clearance, and cleaning, storage, and maintenance procedures for that respirator.
The N95 / filtering facepiece carve-out under §5144(c)(2) is the one most facilities rely on without realizing what remains. For voluntary dust-mask use, the carve-out removes the written-program and medical-evaluation requirements, but it does not remove the duty to provide Appendix D information and to confirm the respirator itself won’t create a hazard.
What Appendix D Requires
Appendix D of §5144 is titled “Information for Employees Using Respirators When Not Required Under the Standard.” It is the document the employer is required to provide to every worker who uses a respirator voluntarily. Cal/OSHA also expects you to document that each worker received it and understood the content.
The Appendix D notice tells workers, in plain language, four things:
- Read and follow all instructions provided by the manufacturer on use, maintenance, cleaning and care, and warnings.
- Choose respirators approved by NIOSH for the contaminant against which they will be used.
- Do not wear the respirator into atmospheres containing contaminants for which it is not designed.
- Keep track of which respirator is yours and don’t wear someone else’s.
The regulation provides the exact language. You don’t have to write it. You do have to provide it, and you have to keep a record showing each voluntary user received it.
Voluntary Use vs. Required Use: Side by Side
| Voluntary use of an N95 (filtering facepiece) | Required use (any respirator) | |
|---|---|---|
| Written respiratory protection program | Not required for voluntary dust-mask use (provide Appendix D information; confirm the use itself creates no hazard) | Full §5144 program required |
| Appendix D acknowledgment | Required, with employee receipt documented | Not the operative requirement (workers are covered under the full program) |
| Medical evaluation | Not required for filtering facepiece voluntary use | Required before respirator use; re-evaluated when §5144 triggers apply |
| Fit testing | Not required for voluntary N95 use | Required before respirator use, then annually |
| Training | Workers must still understand the Appendix D information | Required before respirator use, then annually |
| When the rules change | If respirator use becomes required in that area, the worker shifts to required-use status immediately | n/a |
The bottom row is the rule employers miss most often, and it is worth its own section.
When Voluntary Use Provisions Do Not Apply
The carve-out: if a worker is on a site or in a work area where respirator use is required, the voluntary-use provisions of §5144 do not apply to that worker. The moment they’re working in that environment, they are in required-use status, full program compliance attached, regardless of whether they personally believe they’re using the respirator “voluntarily.”
A few practical examples we’ve walked into:
- A painter at a manufacturing facility wears an N95 during dusty cleanup because they prefer it. The cleanup work doesn’t require a respirator. The painter’s voluntary-use status holds. Appendix D applies.
- The same painter steps into the spray booth, where the written program requires a respirator for paint solvent exposure. The painter’s “voluntary use” status no longer applies in that area. They need medical clearance, fit testing, training, and the rest of the §5144 program for the time they’re in that area, on the respirator that’s required there.
- A maintenance technician keeps an N95 in their toolbox and uses it whenever they’re around dust. They cross through an area where respirators are required for an unrelated hazard. The required-use rules kick in for that time, on the respirator type that’s required for that hazard.
This is the cleanest place for an inspector to find a deficiency. The N95 looks voluntary. The location says otherwise.
What the Cascade Actually Looks Like
When a California facility tells us “we just have N95s available,” our first conversation usually surfaces one or more of the following:
- No written acknowledgment that voluntary users received Appendix D information.
- No procedure for verifying that the respirators on the shelf are NIOSH-approved (the “N95” label is a NIOSH classification, not a brand).
- No determination on file that the voluntary N95 use won’t itself create a hazard (for example, heat stress), which §5144 expects the employer to make before allowing voluntary use.
- Voluntary N95s sitting in or near a work area where respirator use is required for a separate hazard, with no procedure for separating the two use modes.
- A separate group of workers wearing voluntary elastomeric half-masks or full-facepiece respirators (not N95s), who are not in the filtering facepiece carve-out and therefore need medical clearance and the related program elements that the employer doesn’t have.
The fix is rarely complicated. A short addendum to the written program, the Appendix D notice with a signed acknowledgment for each voluntary user, a documented cleaning and storage procedure, and a clear policy on which respirators are allowed in which areas resolves most of it. The cost is meaningfully less than what the same deficiencies cost when Cal/OSHA writes them up. For how the documentation comes together, see N95 fit-test documentation, forms, and records. For the broader regulatory structure that surrounds Appendix D, see our breakdown of the nine elements of a Cal/OSHA §5144 respiratory protection program.
How CDMS Handles a Voluntary-Use Engagement
A typical “we just have N95s” engagement begins with a short site walk to inventory where respirators sit, who uses them, what tasks they’re worn for, and whether any of those tasks or areas otherwise require respirator use. We then sort the workers into voluntary-N95, voluntary-non-N95, and required-use groups, draft the Appendix D acknowledgment for the voluntary users, fold the cleaning, storage, and maintenance procedures into the written program, and add the required medical clearance, fit testing, and training for anyone the walk-through moves into required-use status. The written-program section, the acknowledgment form, and the records that document them are part of the deliverable.
If the walk-through shows your N95 stock is genuinely voluntary and stays in voluntary-use areas only, the engagement is short. If it shows a portion of your headcount has been wearing respirators in required-use conditions without the medical-clearance-fit-test-training sequence, the scope expands. The walk-through is what determines which, and it is the same hour either way.
Trusted throughout California
BSY started working with CDMS last year after our in-house EHS person departed the company. CDMS reviewed our existing operational permits as well as any additional Federal, State and Local regulations that could apply and helped us to create a comprehensive compliance calendar to track regulatory deadlines and submittal due dates. The CDMS team does an excellent job of tracking everything and can be relied upon to complete the forms accurately and assist with submittals, allowing me to focus on our business.
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