Breath in, breath out

Everything you ever wanted to know about respirators, but were afraid to ask.

by TrainingOnline.com

Hundreds of people die on the job every year and thousands more are injured or become seriously ill because of respirator use failures. These workers either didn’t use respirators, or didn’t choose or use them correctly. This is a mistake you can’t afford to make. Some respiratory hazards can overcome you in an instant or create permanent physical damage before you realize it.

General hazards
Respirators protect you from two major hazard categories. One is atmospheres that are dangerous because you could inhale hazardous materials such as:
• particulates and/or dusts (e.g., silica, asbestos, cotton dust)
• toxic vapors and gases (e.g., carbon monoxide, formaldehyde)
• radioactive contaminants
• biological agents (e.g., mold spores)

Inhaling contaminated air can cause a wide variety of ailments. While the illnesses depend on the contaminants’ nature and quantity, exposure may lead to acute health problems such as nausea, headaches and throat irritation. Inhaling some substances can cause chronic illnesses or even death.

Among the serious health risks associated with inhaling dangerous substances are respiratory and lung illnesses, heart problems, disabling diseases such as asbestosis or silicosis, cancers, radiation exposure, and viral and bacterial infections.

Oxygen deficiency
Respirators also protect against the health hazards of breathing air containing less than 19.5 percent oxygen — air that is oxygen-deficient. Breathing oxygen-deficient air affects you immediately, and the effects grow more serious as the oxygen levels drop.

• Inhaling air containing 16 to 19.5 percent oxygen can increase breathing rates and heartbeat and impair thinking and coordination. In many jobs, even a short loss of concentration or coordination can cause a serious accident.

• When air has 12 to 16 percent oxygen, breathing and heart rates accelerate. It impairs attention, thinking and coordination even while you aren’t exerting yourself.

• Air that’s 10 to 14 percent oxygen causes faulty judgment and exhaustion with even minimal exertion.

• When oxygen content hits 6 to 10 percent, you experience nausea, vomiting, lethargic movements and perhaps unconsciousness.

• When air contains less than 6 percent oxygen, you go into convulsions. Your breathing and heartbeat then stops. This happens fast. Even if you get immediate medical attention and survive, there’s a strong risk of permanent damage.

If you think these hazards are unlikely, think again. Oxygen deficiency can occur when there are high concentrations of gases in the air (i.e., after an explosion or chemical reaction). A complete flashover in an enclosed area from a high-temperature electrical fire or arc welding accident can temporarily eliminate the area’s oxygen.

Serious oxygen deficiency is one type of hazard that’s termed “immediately dangerous to life or health,” or IDLH. That term describes an atmosphere that:
• poses an immediate life threat;
• would cause irreversible adverse health effects; or
• would impair an individual’s ability to escape.

Respiratory hazards may also arise from using respirators. You’re at risk if you use a respirator not designed to protect against hazards in your work area. You also can’t get protection from a damaged respirator or one that doesn’t fit properly.

Some people find that wearing a respirator while engaged in heavy physical work and/or wearing heavy personal protective equipment also puts excess strain on the body.

OSHA regulations
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s respiratory protection regulation (29 CFR 1910.134) requires employers to provide respirators when “necessary to protect the health of the employee.” The regulation also requires employers to set up and follow a written respiratory protection program that identifies and protects against the individual workplace’s specific hazards. Employers must also provide employees with medical evaluation, respirator fit testing, and training in respiratory hazards and protections.

OSHA’s standard also covers many other regulations that require respirator use. This includes rules for activities with respiratory hazards, such as fire brigades (1910.156); welding, cutting and brazing (1910.252); and pulp, paper and paperboard mills (1910.261).

The rules also replace the respiratory protection sections of standards for many specific substances that are hazardous when inhaled. Among the substances covered are:
• asbestos (1910.1001)
• vinyl chloride (1910.1017)
• lead (1910.1025)
• cadmium (1910.1027)
• benzene (1910.1028)
• methylene chloride (1910.1052)

Identifying hazards
The respiratory regulation’s purpose is to control illnesses caused by breathing contaminated air. When air is contaminated, employers first try to protect employees with engineering controls. They enclose operations, install ventilation or take other steps to prevent contaminants from getting into the atmosphere. Employers provide respirators when such controls can’t make the air safe to breathe.

The first step, however, is to determine if there is a health risk. OSHA requires employers to:
• Evaluate the workplace’s respiratory hazards.
• Identify relevant workplace and user factors that could affect respiratory hazards and health.
• Develop a written respiratory program and appoint a qualified administrator.
• Select and provide respirators appropriate for the hazards and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Employers use various methods to identify hazards. Often, they use monitoring devices to identify and measure the hazards in a specific individual’s breathing zone. At times, they use random samplings for the entire area.

Whatever the method, they have to identify the contaminant, its form (dust, gas, etc.), the likelihood of employee exposure and the circumstances that could lead to exposure.

Air also has to be tested to check its oxygen levels. If it’s found to be oxygen-deficient, or if an employer can’t reasonably identify or estimate employee exposures, the atmosphere is usually considered IDLH with appropriate precautions needed for employee protection.

Protection against hazards
The OSHA regulation includes special efforts to make sure employees and respirators are well-matched to provide protection. In fact, it makes it clear that not every employee can safely wear a respirator. It notes that “using a respirator may place a physiological burden on employees that varies with the type of respirator worn, the job and workplace conditions in which the respirator is used, and the medical status of the employee.”

Thus, OSHA begins the respirator selection process with medical evaluations to assure that every employee assigned to wear a respirator is able to do so.

Medical evaluation
The medical evaluation plays a vital health role and deserves your full cooperation. It’s free, confidential and performed at a time and place convenient to you. A physician or other licensed health care provider either administers OSHA’s questionnaire or gives you an exam that covers the same ground.

This evaluation covers health issues that could affect your ability to work safely while wearing a respirator, such as:
• asthma, pneumonia, silicosis, chronic bronchitis, or other present or past lung or pulmonary problems;
• shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, chest pain or other possible symptoms of lung problems;
• heart attack, high blood pressure, angina, or other present or past heart or cardiovascular problems;
• chest pain or tightness, or other current or past heart problems or symptoms;
• claustrophobia;
• trouble smelling odors;
• tobacco usage;
• current or recent medication for breathing, lung, heart, blood pressure or seizures;
• past problems using a respirator.

Employers must give the health care providers other information to help them determine an employee’s ability to use a respirator safely. That could include:
• the type and weight of the respirator the employee will use;
• how long and how often the employee will use the respirator;
• expected physical work effort while wearing the respirator;
• other safety equipment to be used with the respirator;
• possible workplace temperature and humidity extremes.

If an evaluation indicates possible problems using a respirator, follow-up tests or exams are required.

After an evaluation, the health care provider gives the employer and employee a recommendation on the employee’s ability to use the respirator safely. This covers only:
• whether the employee is medically able to use the respirator;
• any limits on the employee’s respirator use related to medical condition or conditions of workplace respirator use;
• any need for medical follow-up.

In addition to any recommended follow-up exams, you may have later evaluations if you, your supervisor, your health care provider or the respirator program administrator detect any problems that could indicate a need for re-evaluation. You also would be re-evaluated if changes in physical work effort, temperature or other working conditions substantially increase the physical burden you face while wearing a respirator.

Safety procedures
You can see, then, that much has to happen before anyone can even wear a respirator on the job.

If any of the previously described steps indicate a need for respiratory protection and your ability to wear one safely, you then:
• Select an acceptable respirator from choices designed to protect you from the particular hazard.
• Inspect and maintain the respirator properly.
• Get carefully fit-tested to be sure that the respirator provides full protection.
• Learn how and when to use the respirator while performing specific tasks or responding to an emergency.

Conclusion
Respiratory hazards can be a major threat to your health and even your life. That’s why OSHA requires employers to identify those hazards and provide employees with the right kind of protection against them. That includes making sure each individual is able to wear a respirator safely before assigning that person to wear one.

Your cooperation is needed to protect your own health and to protect others who could be endangered if you’re overcome while wearing a respirator. s

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