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Protection from the Ebola virus continues to dominate the news. More agencies and individuals are discussing full-face and half-face respirators as solutions for care givers. But without proper fit testing, these masks may not be as effective as a towel held over your nose. Fit testing for respirators requires some specialized equipment as well as an understanding of how respirators protect the lungs. The equipment consists of a hood that goes over the person wearing the respirator, …

Things were easier when you were a small company. You may have been able to skip requirements like fit testing your employees for respirators. But no longer. As companies grow in size, so does the scrutiny they receive from regulatory agencies like OSHA. The good news is fit testing isn't complicated, and by following a few simple tips for scheduling and administering the test, you'll be done with the bare minimum of disruption to your business. You may even have improved it. First o …

Fit testing your company employees for respirators can be thought of the same way the Chinese symbol for crisis incorporates the characters for danger as well as opportunity. Sure there's a chance for things to get completely messed up. Done incorrectly, your fit testing might result in long lines of employees standing idle for hours which would be embarrassing for the fit test administrator and bad for the bottom line. If you are in charge of fit testing for a large organization like a hospi …

We get two questions about respirators more often than all other questions combined. People want to know what size mask to order, and they want to know how they can be sure the mask is fitting properly. Because these are such common questions, you'd think we'd have a quick and easy answer for each of them. But each question has some variables, and it's not so easy. Here's what you need to know to make sure your respirator mask fits correctly. For this discussion we will limit the sco …

"Why don't employers give their workers the best respiratory protection?" This is a question that we run into all the time. It basically comes down to two issues: fit testing and cost. Fit Testing Many employers believe that if they are not offering an approved mask to their workers, they don’t need to worry about fit testing. Unfortunately, this is a misconception. Since the only way to know for sure that a mask is doing its job is through fit testing, OSHA makes it a mandatory part …