(Editor’s Note: In this week’s Thursday Feature, we take a closer look at one of the most common types of personal protective equipment: The respirator)
Respirators are protective devices that cover the nose and mouth or the entire face or head in order to protect against gasses, dirty air, or other atmospheric dangers.
There are two basic types of respirators: Tight-fitting and loose-fitting.
Tight-fitting respirators are half masks that cover the mouth and nose, or full face-covering pieces that cover the face from the top of the forehead to below the chin.
Loose-fitting respirators include such things as hoods, helmets, and other devices that cover the head completely.
Two Classes of Respirators
There also are two major classes of respirators: Air-purifying respirators and atmosphere-purifying respirators.
Air-purifying respirators filter the air that is breathed into the mouth so that contaminants are removed from the air. Examples of air-purifying respirators include everything from a disposable mask to a gas mask.
Atmosphere-purifying respirators provide an entirely separate air system, usually from an air tank or some other uncontaminated source. An example of an atmosphere-purifying respirator would be a scuba diver’s or fireman’s supplied-air respirator (SAR).
When Are Respirators Required?
According the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, respirators should be used whenever workers are exposed to environments in which there is insufficient oxygen or where harmful dust, fogs, smokes, mists, fumes, vapors, or sprays are present.
In some instances, these substances could be carcinogenic, cause lung impairment, promote disease, or even be fatal.
Worker safety laws require respirators to be used whenever there are toxic substances present and engineering controls — such as wall, windows, hoods, fans and other devices — can’t reduce or eliminate them to a safe level.
Protecting the Worker from Airborne Hazards
Atmosphere-supplying respirators should be used in oxygen-deficient environments, which can cause increased breathing rates, accelerated heartbeat, and impaired thinking or coordination. Even a momentary of consciousness or coordination can easily lead to injury when a worker is doing something potentially dangerous, such as working near moving machinery or climbing a ladder.
But respirators alone aren’t a substitute for effective engineering and work practice controls. They should simply supplement these so that the risk to workers is minimized to a safe level.
Choosing the Right Respirator
Not all respirators are appropriate for all conditions. In order to choose the right one for the job at hand, you need to determine which type of hazard is present, consider user factors that could affect respirator performance and reliability, and choose the most appropriate respirator that has been certified by the NIOSH.
Determining the Hazards
When choosing a respirator, it’s important that you consider the chemical and physical properties of the contaminant, the toxicity and concentration of the hazardous material, and the amount of oxygen present.
Other factors include the nature and extent of the hazard, the work rate, the area to be covered, mobility, work requirements and conditions, and the limitations and characteristics of the available respirators.
One of the most important things to consider is the time needed to perform a given task, as well as how long it takes to get into and out of a contaminated area. For example, scuba masks that contain an air-purifying chemical cartridge can only be used for a relatively short period of time. But respirators that pump breathable air from an outside source via an air line from an air compressor can be used for much longer periods.
In other instances where atmospheric particulates are low, an air-purifying respirator with a changeable filter may be appropriate. But if the particulates are denser, a SAR may be a better option, especially if the person will be in the contaminated area for a longer period of time.
When you use SARs, you don’t have to worry as much about such things as filter breakthrough times, change schedules, or using end-of-service-life indicators (ESLI) for airborne toxic materials.
Freedom of Movement and Clarity of Vision
It’s also important that respirators not impair the worker’s ability to see, hear, communicate, or move freely.
For example, SARs that have trailing hoses can limit the wearer to a specific distance. Plus, the wearer must be careful not to puncture or sever the hose on machinery or other hazards.
And self-contained breathing apparatus (SBAs) require the person to wear heavy, back-mounted compressed air tanks that can restrict climbing and movement in tight spaces.
When selecting the right respirator for the job, it’s important to take these and other important factors into consideration. Bahrns offers a wide variety of respirators. And our trained sales consultants can help guide you to the respirator that best fits your specific needs.