Hardwood Floors April/May 2019

S P O N S O R E D A D V E R T I S I N G C O N T E N T

Addressing Misguided Beliefs About Respirators By Jason Lunn and Rebecca L. Schumann

N95 Disposable Respirator

All photos courtesy of 3M

This article touches on some of the common misconceptions about respirators that may

For wood ooring work, N95 disposable respirators are the most commonly used type of

OV/P100 Cartridge

MISCONCEPTION “A ‘mask’ is the same thing as a respirator.”

respirator. When properly selected and used, they can help protect workers from a variety of solid particulates in the air, such as wood dust from a oor sander. ey are inexpensive, lightweight, and comfortable to wear for longer periods of time. MISCONCEPTION “I have an N95 respirator. I’m good to go!” e NIOSH rating is important, but you can’t just grab any old N95 respirator and start working. You need to be using the respirator as part of an OSHA respiratory protection program, as outlined in 29 CFR 1910.134. While we obviously won’t walk through all the OSHA points in this piece, here are a few highlights. First, an exposure assessment needs to be completed. If respiratory protection is needed, workers then need to be medically cleared to ensure they are healthy enough to wear the respirator. Next, workers will need to be t-tested to the speci c respirator model for the job

exist in the wood flooring industry.

A “mask” is not the same thing as a respirator. Respirators that are to be used in a workplace need to be tested and approved to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) standards. For disposable respirators, NIOSH approvals are only granted to those that have been tested and proven to help reduce exposure to particulate hazards per NIOSH test methods. Although a “comfort mask” (also known as a “cold weather mask”) may look similar to a disposable particulate respirator, it won’t have a NIOSH approval because the material it is made of is not capable of ltering out the ne dust particles that can collect deep in your lungs, nor is it designed to create a tight seal to the face. Disposable respirators will have a NIOSH rating printed on them, composed of a le er and number. Refer to the chart on the next page for NIOSH’s nine ltering classi cations.

MISCONCEPTION “Wood dust is not a big deal.” Wood dust is obviously a common exposure in the wood ooring industry, but did you know that it can also be a serious health hazard? For instance, the respiratory system can become sensitized to wood dust, meaning that a ected workers can su er severe allergic reactions a er repeated exposures to even low concentrations of wood dust. Beyond the obvious health hazards that can occur when airborne wood dust concentrations are above the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL), even lower amounts (or nuisance dust) can still be an irritant to the respiratory system. So, wearing respiratory protection can be helpful regardless of the exposure levels.

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