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Respiratory Protection
The OSHA General Industry standard for Respiratory protection (29 CFR 1910.134) and General Industry order 5147 & 5144 in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations requires that an employer establish a respiratory protection program when effective engineering controls are not feasible.
The guidelines in this program are designed to help reduce employee exposures to occupational dusts, fumes, mists, radionuclides, gases and vapors. The primary objective is to prevent excessive exposure to these contaminants. Where feasible, exposure to contaminants will be eliminated by engineering controls. When effective engineering controls are not feasible, use of respiratory protective equipment may be required to achieve this goal.
It is the employer's responsibility to determine which specific applications require use of respiratory protective equipment. The employer must also provide proper respiratory protective equipment to meet the needs of each specific application. Employees must be provided with adequate training and instructions on all equipment. Management and or supervisory persons are responsible for ensuring that all personnel under their control comply with all facets of this respiratory program. It is the responsibility of the employee to have an awareness of the respiratory protection requirements for their work areas (as explained by the employer) also employees are responsible for wearing the appropriate protective equipment.
The following is what ECR will do for you:
- Written program
- Assist with respirator selection
- Training including cleaning & disinfecting, storage, and inspection & repair
- Respiratory assignment
- Work area surveillance (air sampling)
- Medical evaluation/face seal testing
- Evaluate Program effectiveness
Last Modified: Tuesday, 2-Sept-2008