SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST

SAFETY BULLETIN / July - September 2006

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Respiratory Protection Training Requirements

Chris Hall, Safety Specialist

Today, over 5 million employees, employed by an estimated 1.3 million employers, perform work that requires the use of respirators.  Respiratory protection is crucial to ensuring employees are protected from some of the most dangerous conditions that exist.  Serious injury, long term disease, or death in many industries have long been linked to the inadequate use or complete lack of proper respirators.  In many cases today, employers recognize the need to use the right equipment, but many do not follow up the requirements by providing the necessary training.  OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard (1910.134) gives guidelines for the information that must be contained in any respiratory protection training. 

Employers must provide annual training to ensure that employees are able to demonstrate their knowledge in the following categories:

1. Risks of improper use – Why the respirator is important and how improper fit, use, and maintenance will effect its operation.
2. Limits and capabilities – What the respirator is designed to protect you from, and what are situations where it will not protect you.
3. Emergency use – How to use the respirator in emergency situations including equipment failure.
4. Donning equipment – How to put on, remove and use the respirator as it is designed.  This also includes how to perform user seal checks.
5. Maintenance and storage – How to care for, inspect and properly store a respirator to ensure proper function.
6. Medical signs and symptoms – How to recognize signs and symptoms of medical conditions that may affect the proper use or breathing functions of the user.
7. General requirements – Detail any other applicable requirements of the standard as they apply; respirator and cartridge selection, specific work conditions, facial hair and sealing surfaces, fit-testing, etc…

Training must be conducted in a language the employee can understand and provided prior to the use of a respirator.  The training must be provided on an annual basis or when employee use has demonstrated lack of knowledge.  Retraining will also be required if changes in respirator types or hazardous conditions are made.

OSHA’s training requirements for employees wearing respirators are important to ensure that future generations of workers know and understand the hazardous conditions they are exposed to, and what they can do to protect themselves.