Safety Tidbit 3.10 - Nine Elements of a Respirator Program

Safety Tidbit 3.10 – Nine Elements of a Respirator Program

References: OSHA Respirator Standard 1910.134

Danyluk, Q., Hon, C.-Y., Neudorf, M., Yassi, A., Bryce, E., Janssen, B., & Astrakianakis, G. (2011). Health Care Workers and Respiratory Protection: Is the User Seal Check a Surrogate for Respirator Fit-Testing? Journal of Occupational & Environmental Hygiene, 8(5), 267–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2011.566016

Seems like lately my clients have had more than the usual curiosity with respirators. Most of my clients know that I don’t like respirators and, as a devoted IH, I try to reduce the need for respirators in every workplace I go into. Therefore, I figured I needed to take a step back and list the nine basic elements of a respirator program as defined by OSHA [1910.134(c)(1)]:

1.     Procedures for selecting respirators for use in the workplace

2.     Medical evaluations of employees required to use respirators

3.     Fit testing procedures for tight-fitting respirators

4.     Procedures for proper use of respirators in routine and reasonably foreseeable emergency situations

5.     Procedures and schedules for cleaning, disinfecting, storing, inspecting, repairing, discarding, and otherwise maintaining respirators

6.     Procedures to ensure adequate air quality, quantity, and flow of breathing air for atmosphere-supplying respirators

7.     Training of employees in the respiratory hazards to which they are potentially exposed during routine and emergency situations

8.     Training of employees in the proper use of respirators, including putting on and removing them, any limitations on their use, and their maintenance

9.     Procedures for regularly evaluating the effectiveness of the program

Of course, the program is topped off with a “suitably trained” program administrator [1910.134(c)]. And, as I mention a couple of Safety Tidbits ago, for all tight-fitting respirators, the employer shall ensure that employees perform a user seal check each time they put on the respirator [1910.134(g)(1)(iii)].

An interesting side note, research has shown that even with a proper user respirator seal fit-check 25-30% of users fail a quantitative fit-test and 14-22% fail qualitative fit-testing. (Danyluk et al., 2011)  Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through to still be unsure if workers are protected from the airborne hazard. Just saying…

Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have an interesting safety or health question please let me know.