Respirator Osha - Breath Easier With An Exam

By Author: Tim Bridges
Total Articles: 138
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Workers that usually work in environments that are hazardous are, by law, expected to be issued with safety equipment to help protect them. In the building industry for example, workers on construction sites are issued with helmets and foot wear that can allow for the protection of heads and feet. And in areas where there is the risk of inhalation of hazardous materials like dust and asbestos, the workers are issued with respirators. And among many standards the main one is that it should be a respirator OSHA approves of.

What is OSHA?

OSHA is the acronym for ‘Occupational Safety and Health Administration'. This agency, which is under the United States Department of Labor, was created for the sole purpose of the reduction and prevention of injuries, illnesses and occupational fatalities incurred at work places. It does so by issuing and enforcing standards for safety and health in the workplace. And among the various safety equipment that are issued to workers, and is covered by the agency's Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), is the respirator. ...
... Therefore, an employer can only issue a respirator OSHA approves of if the working environment requires it.

How effective is the respirator?

A question that needs to be addressed when doing work in hazardous environments is how effectively the workers are protected by the safety equipment that they have been issued. After all, there would be no point in wearing respirators et al if all they served were as encumbrances and nothing more. And one way of making sure that there were no mistakes made in either the manufacturing, usage or functioning of the respirators would be to make regular surveys about the health of the workers before, during and after they had started using them.

A Little Bit about the Questionnaire

The OSHA Respirator Medical Evaluation Questionnaire is a 7 page document. It has 19 questions that are to be answered by the employee. The answering method varies from simple choices: Yes or No to ones that need to be answered with some details written in blank lines. The questions cover issues like previous health problems, medications being taken and even so far unidentified symptoms like shortness of breath or pains in various parts of the body that could be indications of serious health problems.

The Company

Employer Health Services, LLC is a company that was established for every workman's safety. This company based in Minneapolis, MN created an exhaustive questionnaire around the health of respirator wearers. The site can be accessed to gather information for better understanding of respirator health issues.

If you have questions, whether as an employer or as an employee regarding a respirator OSHA approves or doesn't approve of visit the Employer Health Services, LLC web site at: http://respiratorsurvey.com