ABSTRACT
Improper use of a respirator can have devastating effects on the life or health of the wearer. For instance, one worker died because his employer failed to require the use of a respirator when the tank he was pumping a saline solution into was the same time evacuating hydrogen sulfide, a very toxic gas, in excess of the maximum peak concentration allowed [Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission (OSHRC) Docket No. 85-166, April 17, 1991]. In another case, a worker was exposed to impermissible levels of cotton dust because she was allowed to remove her respirator before the cotton dust hazard was adequately controlled by other means [OSHRC Docket No. 84-767, February 27, 1991]. At a foundry, a foreman was given a respirator to wear as protection from airborne lead, which was in excess of permissible exposure limit (PEL), without benefit of periodical fit testing. His breathing air, inside the respirator, contained lead in excess of the PEL [OSHRC Docket No. 89-3688, October 26, 1990], The point of these examples is that uninformed or improper wearing of respirators can have serious consequences. The identity and characteristics of the respiratory hazards that may be encountered, the respirators available for use, and how to use the respirator selected are crucial information that the wearer needs to know. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the Department of Labor mandates that employers prepare a written respirator program and use it to train employees, if the employees will be expected to work in conditions that require respirators. For those with a need to know and understand how and why respirators work, then, the first order of business is to examine these background issues of general respirator information and the OSHA requirements. 1
