Usefulness of Respirator Manufacturer User’s Instructions and NIOSH Approval Labels

Details

• Personal Author:
  Doney B ; Greskevich, Mark F. ; Groce D ; Hoffman W
• Description:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a nationwide respirator survey through the United States Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The purpose of the survey was to evaluate respirator use and practices to help guide NIOSH respirator certification and research. The survey was mailed in August 2001 to 40,002 establishments representing all of the private sector major industry divisions. Among other information collected on respirator use and practices, the survey included questions on respirator manufacturer user's instructions and NIOSH approval labels. The survey estimated that: 89% of all respirator-using establishments agree that manufacturer user's instructions are clear and easily understood; 90% agree that manufacturer user's instructions are beneficial in the use of respirators; nearly 85% agree that NIOSH approval labels are clear and easily understood; and 80% agree that NIOSH approval labels are beneficial in the use of respirators. These levels of agreement were generally uniform across all private industry. Although the respirator-using establishments generally agree that manufacturer user's instructions and NIOSH approval labels are clear, easily understood, and beneficial, the findings from other questions in the survey indicate apparent widespread inadequacies in the respiratory protection programs offered by establishments. For example, only 15% of establishments using airline respirators reported appropriate use of the air pressure range given on the NIOSH approval label or in the manufacturer user's instructions. Overall, approximately 91 % of establishments requiring respirator use had at least one indicator of a potentially inadequate respiratory protection program, while nearly 54% had at least five indicators of a potentially inadequate respiratory protection program. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pressure Environmental Monitoring Irritants Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-monitoring Air-pressure Author Keywords: Respirator Manufacturer User's Instructions NIOSH Approval Labels Respirators Respiratory-equipment Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-protection Survey
• ISSN:
  0892-6298
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  31-39
• Volume:
  21
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20025275
• Citation:
  J Int Soc Respir Prot 2004 Spring/Summer; 21(Spring/Summer):31-39
• Contact Point Address:
  Brent Doney, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505 USA
• Email:
  bdoney@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of the International Society for Respiratory Protection
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:24f48c34dcfdf934083b73a50d4a0150a77739fad73ddf981d144679a4133a16e0cf4aed8e4a30be83be0109133cc0a20df5077dec68a08167d8411746577dcd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196723/cdc_196723_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.13 MB ]