Respiratory Protection

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Respiratory protection is essential in environments where workers are exposed to respiratory hazards, that is, airborne particles, harmful dusts, or oxygen-deficient atmospheres. An effective respiratory protection program ensures that appropriate respirators—air-purifying respirators or self-contained breathing apparatuses, for instance—are used to safeguard against potential health risks.

Respirators are devices that filter or supply clean breathing air. The spectrum of respirators ranges from simple, disposable filtering facepiece respirators that protect against airborne particles, to complex, reused air-purifying and supplied air respirators that help workers breathe safely in contaminated environments. Hazard-specific selection of the proper respirator is a imperative. The selection and use of respirators must be done in accordance with a properly written respiratory protection program that meets all relevant occupational safety standards to ensure worker safety.