894 Lead Safety in Shipyards

Respirator Selection

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

General Requirements

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.

Factors to consider when selecting respirators include:

• 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

Assigned Protection Factors (APFs)

Assigned Protection Factor (APF) means the workplace level of respiratory protection that a respirator or class of respirators is expected to provide to employees when you implement a continuing, effective respiratory protection program.

For higher-risk exposure situations (i.e., a higher concentration of infectious particles), choosing a respirator with a higher APF provides a higher level of protection for the wearer. The APFs for different types of respirators are presented in Table 1 of the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard 1910.134.

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