Respirators protect our people from harmful things that may be released or generated by mitigation work, including particulates, vapors and gases. Respiratory equipment must conform to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and regulations. Go through this process in order to understand the types of respirators that can be used in various situations.
1. Class 1: Air Purifying Device
Reusable respirators (Class 1, 2, and 3) come in half-face and full-face varieties.
These respirators have a filter but do not supply oxygen, so the area must contain sufficient oxygen.
These respirators have a filter or canister that removes specific air contaminants (see Step 4). They can be used only where the air contaminant level is within the specified concentration limitation of the respirator.
The air-purifying technology may include a mechanical-filter cartridge, chemical cartridge, or combination of the two; gas masks, or powered air-purifying respirators.
2. Class 2: Atmosphere-Supplying Respirator or Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)
These respirators supply the user with air from a supply hose connected to the wearer's face piece or enclosure. The air may be in continuous flow, demand-flow, or pressure-demand flow.
3. Class 3: Combination Air-Purifying and Atmosphere-Supplying Device
These respirators provide the user with air but also have an air-purifying attachment in case the air supply fails. These respirators are highly recommended for use in asbestos-remediation work.
4. Respirator Cartridges
Reusable respirators (Classes 1, 2, and 3) must be equipped with a cartridge. These cartridges are color-coded to indicate what contaminant they will filter out. Stacked or combination cartridges are also available. The mask and cartridge must be made by the same manufacturer in order to work properly together.
The most commonly used cartridges in a restorative drying environment are those for particulate and for organic vapor.
5. Disposable Respirators
Disposable respirators (also referred to as particulate respirators or dust masks) are available in the half-face variety and used for protection against airborne particles. The entire face piece acts as a filter. There are two straps, sitting at the crown of the head and below the ear. There are no replacement parts. These are often used in environments where grinding, sanding, sweeping or other dusty operations may occur.
There are three types of particulate respirators, each of which has 95, 99 and 100% efficiency levels:
- N-Series: These are not resistant to oil. They are used where dust particles related to coal, iron ore, flour, metal, wood, pollen, and non-oil-based liquids are present. They can be used as long as they are not damaged or causing breathing resistance.
- R-Series: These are resistant to oil. They provide protection against solid and liquid aerosol particulates that may contain oil. They can only be used for up to 8 hours, then must be disposed of.
- P-Series: These have the same resistance as the R-Series but can be used for 40 hours or 30 days of use, whichever comes first, as long as they are undamaged.
