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No safety technology is changing as fast as that employed in PPE. The devices of just a few years ago are now obsolete by replacements that are lighter, easier to use, and more protective. These resources alert you to developments in the field, and equally important, supply training ideas to get your workers to use their PPE, and use it correctly.
Free Special Report: Does Your PPE Program Meet OSHA’s Requirements?
Yesterday, we talked about selecting respirators, fitting them to employees’ faces, and performing seal checks. Today, we’ll cover fit-testing, inspection, and maintenance, and we’ll tell you about a respirator training program that puts it all together for your workers. OSHA says that all respirators that rely on a mask-to-face seal must be checked with either […]
Because of the potentially serious health effects of airborne contaminants and other hazards, OSHA’s respiratory protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134) establishes rigorous requirements for the safe use of respirators. Respirators protect workers from a host of workplace hazards, including insufficient oxygen, and harmful dust, fog, smoke, mists, gases, vapors, and sprays. Without this essential PPE, […]
Yesterday, we talked about the use of face masks and respirators to protect against H1N1 exposure. Today, we expand our discussion to include the use of respiratory protection in general, as well as other types of personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to protect against an array of workplace hazards. Respiratory protection is an important part […]
Are face masks or respirators really necessary to protect against H1N1 at work, on the street, or at home? That’s the question on the minds of a lot of people these days. See what CDC recommends. If you’ve been wondering about whether to use a face mask or a respirator to protect against the H1N1 […]
Approximately 30 million Americans are exposed to high noise levels on the job. Long-term exposure to high noise levels can cause permanent hearing loss. That’s why OSHA requires employers to provide training and hearing protection when employees are exposed to harmful noise levels. Too much noise can affect employees’ safety and health. We know that […]
If you’ve got noisy work areas, you’ve probably also got questions about hearing protection and OSHA requirements. The experts at Safety.BLR.com® have been fielding these questions for years. Here is a sampling that may be helpful for your workplace. (NOTE: To get all the details of OSHA’s hearing protection requirements, refer to the Occupational […]
PPE provides head-to-toe protection for your employees and keeps them safe from physical and health hazards when engineering and administrative controls alone can’t do the job. As the general PPE safety meeting in BLR’s OSHA Training System explains, personal protective equipment (PPE) is one of the most effective ways to protect against job hazards. PPE […]
The basic objective of any PPE program is to protect employees from safety and health hazards that can’t be engineered out. To pick the right PPE for your employees, you must assess the potential hazards. Personal protective equipment (PPE) in one form or another has been around for centuries. There’s evidence, for example, that early […]
In order to control or eliminate breathing hazards, OSHA has adopted respiratory protection regulations for general industry (except agriculture), shipyards, marine terminals, longshoring, and construction workplaces and for specific air contaminants. Today we’ll focus on the requirements concerning respirator inspection, maintenance, storage, and repair. OSHA estimates that its respirator regulation could save as many as […]
Yesterday’s Advisor examined some of the exceptions and loopholes in the seemingly simple “employer pays” rule for personal protective equipment (PPE). Today we look at some of the other gray areas of the recent rule. As of May 15, 2008, employers were required to comply with an OSHA final rule requiring them to provide—at no […]