Get This Document Is To Be Used To Address The Voluntary Use Of Dust ... - Dfw State Or

Respirators, whether used routinely or for emergencies, must be cleaned and disinfected by the employee on a regular basis. As a minimum, respirator cleaning should take place on a weekly basis following use, and more frequently as conditions of use warrant. Remove filters, cartridges, or canisters.

Position the respirator so that the facepiece rubber will not "set" crookedly as it dries. Store the respirator at the end of each shift to protect it from dust, sunlight, heat, extreme cold, excessive moisture, and chemicals. Clean and disinfect respirators after each use, where appropriate.

Voluntary Use of Respirators An employee requests a respirator even though the use of one is not required by you (the employer). A Cal/OSHA standard does not require one and you have determined that its use is not necessary to protect the health of the employee.

In general, cleaning and disinfecting consists of taking the respirator apart, washing it, disinfecting it, thoroughly rinsing it, and putting it back together when it is dry. Respirators must be cleaned as often as necessary to prevent them from becoming unsanitary.

If you permit the use of respirators other than filtering facepieces, you must pay for required medical evaluations for voluntary users and provide voluntary users with appropriate facilities and time to clean, disinfect, maintain, and store respirators.

If employers allow the voluntary use of elastomeric facepiece and powered air-purifying respirators (after determining that such use will not itself create a hazard), the employer must implement the elements of a written respiratory protection program necessary to ensure that employees voluntarily using such ...

Voluntary Use: Consists of a filtering facepiece, such as a disposable dust filtering facepiece respirator. In this case, the only requirements are that the respirator be stored and maintained so that its use does not present a health hazard to the user and that the employer provide employees with Appendix D.

Read and heed all instructions provided by the manufacturer on use, maintenance, cleaning, care, and warnings regarding the respirator's limitations. Choose respirators certified for use to protect against the air contaminant you're dealing with.