Respiratory Protection

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposes to amend regulatory requirements that would be used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to test and approve Combination Unit Respirators (CURs).  NFPA defines a CUR as…

MultiVapor™ has been updated to resolve the errors users experienced with a missing MSSTDFMT.DLL file, and other minor typographical errors. MultiVapor™ is a computer tool for estimating breakthrough times and service life of air-purifying respirator cartridges manufactured to remove toxic organic vapors (OV) from breathed air. It can also be used for larger filters and

Immediate Action Required Impacted Dates:  October 3, 2023 – December 4 ,2023 3M™ Scott™ Cylinder and Valve Assemblies are safe to use once the instructions in this notice are carried out. 3M Scott have been made aware of a small number of cylinder valves that experienced noticeable rates of leakage upon initial inspection when the

The Suburban Manufacturing Group manufactures filtration and drying systems for compressed air. A part of the product line is a compressed air filtration system for use with supplied air respirators (SARs). You have asked for OSHA’s interpretation on addressing air quality and clarification on various designs or configurations of currently marketed breathing air systems. Please

Between May and November 2020, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) issued limited, temporary Public Health Emergency (PHE) approvals for N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) and powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) to address respirator supply shortages during that time. In July 2021, NIOSH published NIOSH CA 2021-1036 to remind PHE approval holders that these

HSE Inspectors routinely come across workers with various degrees of stubble growth using respiratory protective masks despite guidance to the contrary. This research studied the effect of 0-7 days stubble growth on the protection given by FFP3 filtering facepieces and half masks.  Fifteen male volunteers took part, each testing four masks. For most, three different

At 5:00 p.m. on February 4, 2021, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured fabricated structural metal. He was performing abrasive blasting with steel shot. He was wearing a supplied air respirator (SAR). While using the supplied air hood, he lost consciousness. A pressure testing operation downstream on the plant airline allowed nitrogen

At 12:00 noon on August 19, 2021, an employee utilized an airline respirator that was attached to a nitrogen line. The employee died from a lack of oxygen.

I have been validated!  I have received so many nasty grams from folks regarding my position on the ASSUMED PAPR Assigned Protection Factor of 1,000 which I wrote about in several postings going all the way back to 2015 of which this was my first attempt to educate and warn others of some flawed practices:

Generally, you asked OSHA to clarify whether loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are a permissible alternative to N95 respirators where respiratory protection is required to protect workers from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Additionally, you asked OSHA to clarify the interplay between the Respiratory Protection Standard and other laws that may require