The Use of Video Exposure Monitoring in a Training Video to Motivate Fit-Testing and the Appropriate Use of Healthcare N95 Respirators

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brosseau L ; Cohen M ; Roe M
• Description:
  Situation/Problem: Healthcare workers may be required to wear N95filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) to reduce potential exposure to airborne bacterial and viral agents. Motivating workers to be fit tested, wear only a fit tested respirator, and don it correctly are key to ensuring that workers obtain adequate protection. Resolution: A training video was developed using video exposure monitoring (VEM) technology to visually demonstrate how a poorly fitting or improperly adjusted N95 FFR allows unacceptable levels of facepiece leakage. Two TSI Portacount instruments continuously measured inside- and outside-facepiece particle concentrations while a video image was simultaneously recorded. Healthcare workers participated in several scenarios illustrating the effects of facial hair, respirators of incorrect size, and failure to properly adjust the respirator. A surgical mask was also fit tested to illustrate the very low level of protection provided. Proprietary 3M software was run on a laptop computer to communicate with the Portacounts and log the one-second average data. NIOSH-developed VEM software was used to animate the data and Adobe Premier used to create the overlay and edit the video. Results: The VEM technology provides a very clear and easy-to-understand image that illustrates for employees the importance of fit testing, being clean shaven and using the model and size for which they have been fit tested. Lessons Learned: Video exposure monitoring that combines recorded images and direct-reading instrument measurements of on-going respirator fit may be a useful additional training and motivational tool in combination with current fit test and educational activities in healthcare environments. Future plans include developing videos with respirators in other workplace settings. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Personnel Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Fit Testing Health Care Workers N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Personal Protective Equipment PPE Respiratory Protective Equipment Training
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  104-105
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062515
• Citation:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec. Falls Church, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2013 May; :104-105
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8ca4b1c9624bbbf12c62a7b90289f11c04153e8dcb8b58f72e51e274dd63f6eff95b8a4657d0b50d08245641ce34e5b330e52f62749076f058b7c8ff40d37b8b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225750/cdc_225750_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.01 MB ]