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Fit testing your company employees for respirators can be thought of the same way the Chinese symbol for crisis incorporates the characters for danger as well as opportunity. Sure there's a chance for things to get completely messed up. Done incorrectly, your fit testing might result in long lines of employees standing idle for hours which would be embarrassing for the fit test administrator and bad for the bottom line. If you are in charge of fit testing for a large organization like a hospi …

It's an employer's responsibility to fit test workers with the respirators used on their job sites. Most folks don't think about this unless they are in highly regulated fields. But under OSHA safety standard 1910.134 employers are required to show each worker using this lung protection equipment how to put on a respirator, how to position it on the face, and how to determine an acceptable fit. If you've never performed a fit test, here is a quick primer on how to use a Qualitative Fit Tes …

I wanted to follow up on my recent post on isocyanates, in which I recommended an airline respirator, and discuss airline respirators in a little more detail. What is an airline respirator? Type C Supplied Air Respirators, more commonly referred to as air-line respirators, are designed to provide long-duration respiratory protection that is independent of the ambient air in the work area. This contrasts with air purifying respirators that use filters or cartridges, which may not o …