A respirator should not be issued to anyone who is not part of an official respirator program.

Dust masks can be used by people not in a full respirator program, but there are two important requirements that must be met.

• First, a one page OSHA mandated form must be given or made available to the voluntary respirator wearer.
• Second, the supervisor must determine that the respirator is not going to be used to protect against any exposure above the Permissible Exposure Limit.

An exposure event is an incident of contact with a chemical, biological or physical agent (e.g., air contaminant, infectious agent, noise, radiation, etc.) in the workplace by inhalation, ingestion, skin contact or absorption.

An inhalation exposure above the Permissible Exposure Limit is considered an overexposure and must be addressed by engineering or administrative controls. If those measures are infeasible, respirators may be used (not voluntarily) as a control. Any exposure below the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) is still an exposure, although not allowed by OSHA.

It is not the sole responsibility of the supervisor, but a combined effort of training from University Safety and Assurances and the responsibility of the worker to utilize such training in his everyday work assignments. It is the supervisor's responsibility to make sure the training is available and to ensure employees are following the proper procedures and exercising good judgment.

Supervisors play a critical role. Supervisors must determine whether exposure assessments are needed. Supervisors are in the best position to monitor day-to-day respirator activities and program compliance.

Fit-testing is only required for tight-fitting respirators. However, even tight-fitting positive pressure respirators such as Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) require fit-testing.

Corporate WORx Occupational Health Services will let you know the outcome of your exam. You may get copies of your medical records from Corporate WORx directly. If you need a copy for your own physician or another purpose, work directly with Corporate WORx for those requests. The University does not get or see any medical records - only a determination of your capability to wear a respirator.

Wrong. Any filter of cartridge will let a percentage of the contaminant through. The filter or cartridge efficiency, in conjunction with the type of mask help determine the protection factor for a particular respirator, which translates into how effective (how many times over the Permissible Exposure Limit) that mask will be. If we could measure the actual concentration of the contamination outside the mask versus the concentration inside the mask, that ratio would be the actual protection factor. In most cases, employers will use the protection factors assigned to a particular class of respirators (10 for ½-faced respirators, 50 for full-faced respirators, etc.) which are established by NIOSH and OSHA based upon test information for that class. A safety margin is incorporated into the assigned protection factors. Even a protection factor of 1000 means, theoretically that one-thousandth of the concentration outside of the mask could be present inside of the mask. If 10 ppm of a solvent was present outside of a half-faced respirator, that translates into a maximum of 1 ppm of that solvent inside of the respirator. That is why we need to know the expected concentrations of the contaminants in the workplace, especially when respirators are in use. Also, the wrong filter may not filter out anything!

Chemical vapors and gases will penetrate (or break through) a dust mask more quickly than through a chemical cartridge used with a respirator. Dust masks and filters are primarily designed to filter out particulate, dust, fibers and the like. As filter and dust masks load up, they actually become more efficient, eventually letting little breathing air through.

Certain chemicals, such as Toluene Diisocyanate can have an effect on certain people who are exposed to a threshold concentration of that chemical. When the concentration of that effect decreases with each successive exposure event, the chemical is considered a "sensitizer." The opposite of this effect is called "acclimation" or "desensitization."

Yes, and often the acronyms are used without defining what they represent. The most common acronyms seen are PEL (for the Permissible Exposure Limit), STEL (Short Term Exposure Limit) C (Ceiling Limit), and IDLH (for an exposure that is Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health).

Left with their original packaging intact, the charcoal filters can be stored indefinitely. Once opened, the cartridges should not be used if stored more than a few days, and then only if they were stored in an airtight container.

Humidity will decrease the service life of the respirator cartridge. Heat tends to decrease the service life of the cartridge because more of the contaminant is evaporated at a higher temperature.

A NIOSH-certified half mask with organic vapor cartridges is the most appropriate respirator for normal paint spraying. The combination cartridges are also good, but those cartridges will not last as long. Also dust pre-filters, which attach to the front of the organic vapor (or combination) cartridges will help prolong the life of the cartridge.

No. A Powered Air purifying Respirator, or PAPR simply acts like a conventional negative pressure respirator where a pump assists in bringing air across the filterpiece, rather than relying completely on the user's lungs.

This may occur, especially if HEPA type filters are used, and especially once the HEPA filter is loaded up. NIOSH has a minimum specification for the allowed pressure drop across a respirator filter, which manufactures must meet in order to get the NIOSH certification for that product. Combination filter may add to the pressure drop, or resistance of air flow across the filters, but the difference should be imperceptible for most applications.

Single strap dust masks are not NIOSH approved and should not be used at UWM. The two strap filtering facepeice or dust masks that are approved by NIOSH can be worn and even supplied to UWM workers for use on a voluntary basis. The supervisors' responsibility will be limited, in those cases, to giving the worker a copy of the OSHA's Information for Employees Using Respirators When not Required Under Standard

Otherwise, the supervisor must be sure that the voluntary respirator use is done in a sanitary fashion, and that no contaminants are present in concentrations approaching the Permissible Exposure Limits. Physical Plant Services or University Safety and Assurances are available to conduct appropriate types of air monitoring, upon request. Medical certification would not be necessary for voluntary respirator users.

No. A vapor cartridge relies on a different filtering mechanism from a dust filter. While large particulate may not get through a vapor cartridge, the small particles which are the real threat to a person's lungs and health, would likely pass right through a cartridge designed to filter out vapors.