Prior to any employee being required to wear any respiratory protective equipment, he/she shall be trained and certified in the selection, use, maintenance, and inspection of the equipment. Supervisors should be trained prior to their employees being required to wear respiratory protective equipment.
The training program will cover the following topics:
- The Respiratory Protection Program
- The OSHA and/or Cal/OSHA Respirator Standard
- Respiratory hazards and their health effects
- Proper selection of respirators
- Limitations of respirators
- Respirator donning, doffing, and user seal (fit) checks
- Fit testing
- Emergency use procedures
- Maintenance and storage
- Medical signs and symptoms limiting the effective use of respirators
Employees will be retrained annually or as needed (e.g., if they change departments and need to use a different respirator or site observations indicate a lack of knowledge or understanding). The Respirator / Fit Test Record will be kept of those employees who have been trained. Each user must understand and be able to apply the contents of this Respiratory Protection Program. Certification shall also consist of a qualitative fit test, hands-on exercises, and employee training.