756 Respiratory Protection

Selecting Respirators

The properly selected respirator must effectively reduce user exposure under all conditions, including reasonably foreseeable emergency escape situations. The program administrator should make a respirator available to each employee who is assigned a job that requires respiratory protection.

Proper respirator selection involves choosing a device that will protect the employee from the respiratory hazards to which he or she may be exposed, yet permits the employee to perform the job with the least amount of physical burden.

General Requirements

In choosing the appropriate respirator, you must consider the nature and extent of the hazard, work requirements and conditions, and the characteristics and limitations of the available respirators. Take the following information into account when choosing respirators:

• the nature of the hazard, and the physical and chemical properties of the air contaminant;
• concentrations of contaminants;
• relevant permissible exposure limit or other occupational exposure limit;
• the nature of the work operation or process;
• the length of time the respirator is used;
• work activities and physical/psychological stress;
• fit testing; and
• physical characteristics, functional capabilities, and limitations of respirators.

Respirator Certification

All respirators selected must be certified by NIOSH and must be used according to the terms of that certification, which appears on the NIOSH certification label. Under certain circumstances, OSHA may permit the use of respirators not approved by NIOSH (i.e., where no NIOSH-approved respirator exists) where documentation exists to attest to the adequacy of the respirator's effectiveness against the contaminant(s) of concern. OSHA will examine those situations on a case-by-case basis.

Replacement

Make replacement respirators, cartridges, canisters, and filters available as required. All filters, cartridges, and canisters must be labeled with the appropriate NIOSH approval label. Do not remove or deface labels while the respirator is in use.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.