Is Your Respirator Really Protecting You?
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A Respirator cannot protect you from breathing in hazardous substances if it doesn't fit your face. It's that simple. Respirators must form a tight seal to work properly and is required to have all your employees, who wear respirators, annually fit tested.
Respirators Are Necessary If You Work With / Around
- Dusts (Processes involving, cutting, grinding, crushing, rapid impact, cracking,)
- Fumes (Oxidation processes, welding)
- Mists (Processes involving spraying or sprinkling)
- Gasses (Propane, Nitrogen, Helim, Freon)
- Vapors (flammable liquids, perfumes)
- Smokes (burning wood, rubber)
- Viruses (Airborne)
- Algae
- Bacteria
Respirator fit testing is actually mandatory under OSHA regulations. According to OSHA, If workers do require respiratory protection, then employees, “shall be allowed to pick the most acceptable respirator models and sizes so that the respirator is acceptable to, and correctly fits, the user,” This means that each respirator should be examined so that it fits the needs of the employee. Fortunately, we offer qualitative respirator fit testing in southern California.
We Provide Qualitative & Quantitative Fit Testing
Qualitative Fit Testing is a pass/fail test method that uses your sense of taste or smell to detect leakage into your respirator face piece. Whether the respirator passes or fails the test is based simply on you detecting leakage of a test substance into your face piece. In accordance with OSHA rules and regulations, we utilize the following test substances
- Isoamyl accetate (smells like bananas)
- Saccharin (leaves a sweet taste in your mouth)
- Bitrex (leaves a bitter taste in your mouth)
- Irritant smoke (may cause coughing)
Qualitative fit testing does not measure the actual amount of leakage; on the contrary, your respirator fails the test if the test substance leaks into your face piece.
Quantitative Fit Testing uses a machine to measure the actual amount of leakage into the face piece. The respirators used during this type of fit testing will have a probe attached to the face piece that's connected to the machine via a hose.
Quantitative fit testing is normally used for half-mask respirators--those that just cover your mouth and nose. Half-mask respirators can be filtering face piece respirators--often called "N95s"--as well as elastometric respirators
We utilize the 3 OSHA-approved quantitative test methods
- Generated aerosol
- Ambient aerosol
- Controlled Negative Pressure