Respiratory Protection The Safety Source offers a variety of Respiratory Protection products, you may select from the list below or from the right hand sidebar. Breathing Systems Cartridges & Filters Full Mask Respirators Half Mask Respirators Particulate Respirators Respirator Selection Guide An estimated 5 million workers are required to wear respirators in 1.3 million workplaces throughout the United States according to OSHA. Respirators protect workers against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors, and sprays. These hazards may cause cancer, lung impairment, other diseases, or death. Compliance with the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard could avert hundreds of deaths and thousands of illnesses annually. The following will provide safety and health information relevant to respiratory protection. Keep In Mind Respirators should be used for protection only when engineering controls have been shown to be infeasible for the control of the hazard or during the interim period when engineering controls are being installed. Nothing stated in this selection guide modifies the actual requirements of the respirator standard. The display or use of particular products in this selection guide is for illustrative purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement by Argus. Which Respirator is right for you? In order to select an appropriate respirator you must: Conduct an exposure assessment to determine the type and amount of hazardous exposure Take into account the factors that can influence respirator selection such as job-site and worker characteristics Understand the assigned protection factors Know the various kinds of respirators and their relevant characteristics Exposure Assessment 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. > More Information Factors That Can Influence Respirator Selection The Physical Configuration of the Jobsite Worker Medical Condition Worker Comfort > More Information Assigned Protection Factors The assigned protection factor (APF) of a respirator reflects the level of protection that a properly functioning respirator would be expected to provide to a population of properly fitted and trained users. For example, an APF of 10 for a respirator means that a user could expect to inhale no more than one tenth of the airborne contaminant present. Table of APFs for various types of Respirators Respirator Class and Type OSHA Cadmium Std. NIOSH Air Purifying     Filtering Facepiece 10 10 Half-Mask 10 10 Full-Facepiece 50 50 Powered Air Purifying     Half-Mask 50 50 Full-Facepiece 250 50 Loose Fitting Facepiece 25 25 Hood or Helmet 25 25 Supplied Air     Half-Mask-Demand 10 10 Half-Mask-Continuous 50 50 Half-Mask-Pressure Demand 1000 1000 Full-Facepiece Demand 50 50 Full-Facepiece Continuous Flow 250 50 Full-Facepiece Pressure Demand 1000 2000 Loose Fitting Facepiece 25 25 Hood or Helmet 25 25 Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)     Demand 50 50 Pressure Demand >1000 10,000 Air-purifying vs. Atmosphere-supplying Respirators Air-purifying Respirators have filters, cartridges, or canisters that remove contaminants from the air by passing the ambient air through the air-purifying element before it reaches the user. Atmosphere-supplying Respirators supply clean air directly to the user from a source other than the air surrounding the user. Respirator Types Three kinds of Air-purifying Respirators: Particulate Respirators Combination Respirators Gas & Vapor Respirators > More Information Three kinds of Atmosphere-supplying Respirators: Air-Supplied Respirators Combination Respirators Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus > More Information You may also contact Argus for further guidance and selection information.

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