Before ordering a respirator to meet your employees needs ask your self:

Are you using pesticides?

Does the substance irritate your skin or eyes?

Is the hazard immediately dangerous to life and health?

Is there a lack of oxygen?

Do you need a particulate filter and a chemical cartridge?

There a several important questions that should be answered before ordering a respirator. Choosing the right respirator is crucial to the health and safety of your employees on the job. According to the OSHA Respiratory Protection Program,

” Employers must characterize the nature and magnitude of employee exposures to respiratory hazards before selecting respiratory protection equipment. Paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of the final rule requires the employer to identify and evaluate the respiratory hazard(s) in the workplace.Employers must make a “reasonable estimate” of the employee exposures anticipated to occur as a result of those hazards, including those likely to be encountered in reasonably foreseeable emergency situations, and must also identify the physical state and chemical form of such contaminant(s). The final rule does not specify how the employer is to make reasonable estimates of employee exposures for the purposes of selecting respirators.”

So remember to ask these questions prior to ordering your respirator. You will be better prepared and certain that you are making to correct choice for the safety of your employees.

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