638 Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19

Respiratory Protection Training

Respirator training is an important part of the respiratory protection program. As you learned earlier, initial and annual respirator education should include three components: instruction, training, and evaluation to ensure employees have the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required to use respirators on the job.

Retraining must be done annually and under some conditions, additional retraining might be required. Circumstances which would require retraining include situations where:

• changes in the type of respirator assigned to the employee render previous training obsolete;
• when the employee has not retained the requisite understanding or skill to use the respirator properly; or
• any other situation in which retraining appears necessary to ensure safe respirator use.

Note: If an employee has adequate KSAs, but is intentionally violating safety rules covering respiratory protection program, policies, and rules, retraining may not be the most appropriate response. More appropriately, the intentional violation of an OSHA or employer safety rule may require progressive disciplinary action, if justified.

Respiratory protection training should address selection, use (including donning and doffing), proper disposal or disinfection, inspection for damage, maintenance, and the limitations of respiratory protection equipment. Learn more at OSHA's Respiratory Protection Overview.

For more information on OSHA training requirements see OSHA Pub 2254, Training Requirements in OSHA Standards, and OSHAcademy course 703 Introduction to OSH Training. For more information on Respiratory Protection, see OSHAcademy course 756 Respiratory Protection.

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