RESPIRATORY PROTECTION
Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission/Workers' Health and Safety Division
www.awcc.state.ar.us    1-800-622-4472    FAX: 501-683-3169 
Health&Safety@awcc.state.ar.us

GOAL

This pamphlet is designed to provide information pertaining to the respiratory protection regulation.
OBJECTIVE

To give a general overview of the regulation so employers/employees will have knowledge of it.

BACKGROUND

Every day, each of us is exposed to some degree of contamination in the air we breathe. Some of the same substances that help improve our quality of life can be toxic if exposed to large quantities. Fortunately, we can protect ourselves against respiratory hazards by following established guidelines and using appropriate respirators when needed.

REGULATION/STANDARD

It is suggested that you consult OSHA’s  29 CFR 1910.134 and 1926.103, ANSI Standards Z88.2 1969, and 1980. Also the 30 CFR Part 11 until July 10, 1998.

DEFINITIONS

Cartridge - A small container filled with air-purifying media.

Contaminant -  A harmful, irritating, or nuisance material that is foreign to the normal atmosphere.

Filter - A fibrous media used in respirators to remove solid or liquid particles from the airstream entering the respirator enclosure.

Gas - An aeriform fluid which is in the gaseous state at ordinary temperature and pressure.

Immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) - Included are conditions that pose an immediate threat to life or health and conditions that pose an immediate threat of severe exposure to contaminants such as radioactive materials which are likely to have adverse delayed effects on health.

Particulate matter -  A suspension of fine solid or liquid particles in air, such as dust, fog, fume, mist, smoke, or sprays. Particulate matter suspended in air is commonly known as an aerosol.

Respirator - A device designed to protect the wearer from inhalation of harmful atmospheres.  

Sorbent  - A material which removes toxic gases and vapors from air inhaled through a canister or cartridge.

Threshold limit value (TLV) -  Amount based on the concept that there is a "threshold" dose or concentration below which there are no adverse effects. TLV'S are adopted by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).

Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL)  - The legally established time-weighted average (TWA) concentration or ceiling concentration of a contaminant that shall not be exceeded. (This is also referred to as MPC maximum permissible concentrations.)

Vapor  - The gaseous state of a substance that is solid or liquid at ordinary temperature and pressure.

Dust  - A solid mechanically produced particle with sizes varying from submicroscopic to visible or macroscopic.

Spray  - A liquid mechanically produced particle with sizes generally in the visible or macroscopic range.

Fume  - A solid condensation particle of extremely small particle size, generally less than one micron in diameter.

Mist  - A liquid condensation particle with sizes ranging from submicroscopic to visible or macroscopic.

Fog  - A mist of sufficient concentrate to perceptibly obscure vision.

Smoke -  A system which includes the products of incomplete combustion of organic substances in the form of solid and liquid particles and gaseous products in air. Smoke is usually of sufficient concentration to perceptibly obscure vision.

Assigned protection factor (APF)  - The minimum expected workplace level of respiratory protection provided by a properly functioning respirator.

Workplace Protection Factor (WPF) -  Measure of the actual protection provided in the workplace when a respirator is correctly selected, fit tested, and worn.

RESPIRATORY PROTECTION PROGRAM

The primary objective shall be to protect employees from atmospheric contaminants by accepted  engineering control measures. When engineering controls are not feasible, or while they are being instituted the employer shall provide the respirators which are applicable and suitable for the purpose intended.

Requirements for a minimal acceptable program:

1.	Written procedures for selecting respirators for use in the workplace;
2.	Medical evaluations of employees required to use respirators;
3.	Fit-testing procedures for tight-fitting respirators;
4.	Procedures for proper use of respirators in routine and reasonably foreseeable emergency situations;
5.	Procedures and schedules for cleaning, disinfecting, storing, inspecting, repairing, discarding, and  maintaining respirators;
6.	Procedures to ensure adequate air quality, quantity, and flow of breathing air for atmosphere-supplying respirators;
7.	Training of employees in the respiratory hazards to which they are potentially exposed during routine and emergency situations;
8.	Training of employees in the proper use of respirators, including putting on and removing them, any  limitations on their use, and their maintenance; 
9.	Procedures for regularly evaluating the effectiveness of the program; and
10.	Respirators shall be selected from among those certified  by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Selection of Respirators

Approved or accepted respirators should be chosen according to what the nature of the hazard is, its extent, the work requirements and conditions, and characteristics and limitations of the respirator for the purpose used.

Air Quality

Breathing air shall meet at least the requirements of the specification for Grade D breathing air. Breathing air may be supplied to respirators from cylinders or air compressors. Cylinders shall be tested and maintained as prescribed in 49 CFR part 178. The compressor for supplying air shall be equipped with necessary safety and standby devices.

Training

The supervisor, the person issuing respirators, and the wearers shall be given adequate training by a qualified person to ensure the proper use of respirators. It is essential that the user be properly instructed in its selection, use, and maintenance. Training shall provide the employees an opportunity to handle the respirator, have it fitted properly, test its face-piece-to-face seal, wear it in normal air for a long familiarity period and, finally, to wear it in a test atmosphere. Written records shall be kept of the names of persons trained and the dates when training occurred. Each respirator wearer shall be retrained at least annually.

Fit Testing

Before an employee is required to use a respirator with a negative or positive pressure tight-fitting facepiece, the employee must be fit-tested on that respirator, or  one of the same make, model, style and size, to ensure a good facepiece-to-face seal.

Qualitative fit tests can only be used to fit-test negative pressure air-purifying respirators that must achieve a fit factor of 100 or less, i. e. half masks.  Fit-testing of tight-fitting sir-supplied respirators must be accomplished by performing quantitative or qualitative fit-testing in the negative-pressure mode.

Maintenance and Care of Respirators

A program of maintenance and care of respirators shall be adjusted to the plant working conditions, and hazards involved, and shall include the following basic services:

1.	Inspection for defects (including a leak check)
2.	Cleaning and disinfecting
3.	Repair
4.	Storage

Equipment shall be properly maintained to retain its original effectiveness.
	
After inspection, cleaning, and necessary repair, respirators shall be stored to protect against dust, sunlight, heat, extreme cold, excessive moisture, or damaging chemicals. A record shall be kept of inspection dates and findings for respirators maintained for emergency use.

Types of Respirators

There are two types of respirators: Air-purifying and Air-supplying. Air-purifying are designed to filter the atmospheric air that is being breathed through a filter media attached to the respirator inlet covering. Supplied-air respirators provide clean air from an outside source such as electric or manual blower, air compressors or self-contained cylinders worn by the user.

Air Purifying

Air-purifying respirators are used under the following conditions:

1.	Oxygen content is at least 19.5%
2.	Contaminant identity and concentration are known
3.	Respirator assembly is approved for protection against the specific contaminant and 	concentration level
4.	No facial hair, such as beards or sideburns or other items such as glasses that prevent proper seal of the facepiece to the face
5.	Respiratory device is use by trained personnel only
	
Most common types of Air-Purifying Respirators:

Quarter mask: These respirators are used with cartridges or filters for toxic vapors and dust. The quarter mask fits from the top of the nose to the top of the chin. 

Half mask: These respirators fit from under the chin to above the nose. A protection factor of 10 has been assigned to them. One or two cartridges are used to filter the air and are discarded after each use or when breakthrough is reached.

Full  face: These respirators protect the whole face including the eyes, with a protection factor of 100. Most fullface respirators use twin cartridges. Generally, cartridges approved for the half mask of the same brand can be used with the fullface.

Mouthbit: These respirators are approved for escape only, however, their use is discouraged.

Air-supplying Respirators

Air-Supplying Respirators provide protection against oxygen deficiency and toxic atmospheres.

Self-contained Breathing Apparatus  (SCBA)

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus' operate in one of two modes: demand or pressure-demand. In the demand mode, a negative pressure is created inside the facepiece and breathing tube when air is inhaled. Demand mode cannot be used for emergency response situations. The pressure-demand mode maintains a positive pressure inside the facepiece at all times. Pressure in the facepiece is greater at all times than the ambient pressure outside the facepiece. If any leakage occurs, it is outward from the facepiece, resulting in a protection factor 100 times greater the air-purifying respirators.
SCBA'S operate by one of two types of circuits: closed or open. The closed-circuit recycles the user's exhaled air instead of exhausting it to the atmosphere. The exhaled air passes through a canister containing soda lime, a material which filters out the Carbon Dioxide. The filtered air then goes to a bag where it is mixed with bottled oxygen to restore the oxygen content to 21.5%. The mixed air is inhaled by the user and the cycle repeats.
The open-circuit requires a supply of compressed breathing air. The exhaled air is exhausted from the system. Because the air is not recycled, a full air supply is needed which limits a unit to the amount of air that the user can physically carry.

Supplied-air Respirators  (SAR)

Hose Mask with Blower

Equipped with a facepiece, breathing tube, rugged safety harness, and large diameter heavy duty non-kinking air-supply hose. The wearer can continue to inhale through the hose if the blower fails. Up to 300 feet of hose is permissible.

REFERENCES:

Videos pertinent to this subject may be obtained from the Arkansas Department of Labors/ Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission Health and Safety’s Resource Center at (501) 682-9090.

Disclaimer:  Information contained in this pamphlet is considered accurate. For complete information on rules and regulations on respiratory protection procedures, please consult  29 CFR 1910.134 and 29 CFR 1926.103 ; ANSI Z88.2-1969, 1980, and 1992 Standard Practice for Respiratory Protection and ANSI K13.1-1967 Identification of Gas Canister.