OSHA’s respiratory protection program is critical to both employees and employers. This law stipulates that at any given time, an employer has to ensure that employees who work in an environment polluted by smoke, misty, harmful gas or where the level of oxygen is insufficient, must wear a respirator. A respirator, in this case, is defined as a protective device which is used by a worker in a toxic environment to cover mouth, head, nose or entire face to guard the worker against hazardous atmospheres in the workplace. Respiratory protection of the workers within an organization according to this OSHA program is the mandate of the employers. According to this regulation, the employees need protection against contamination from the work sites. It is thus the responsibility of the employer to ensure that they developed respiratory protection program to help in protecting the workers ( Larson, 2016). Developing a respiratory plan and ensuring that it is working are two different things. The employer needs to ensure that respiratory program works well.
The respiratory protection program works well under following circumstances; the employees must wear them at any time they are exposed to potential hazards, the employees must know how to operate the respiratory protective device. Further, they have to know the conditions under which they are supposed to be used. The employees also need to have the operating manuals of the equipment to ensure that they confirm in the area where they are uncertain. Thus it is the work of the employer to ensure that the employees are well trained on how to use these devices to ensure maximum protection. How do the employers develop such programs?
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Developing a respiratory protection program that conforms to the requirements of OSHA is the mandate of the employers. Reviewing the primary objective of the respiratory protection program is critical in its developments. There are key issues which need to be given much emphasis as one comes up with a respiratory protection program. First, they have to emphasize training. The employees need to be trained on how to use these instruments and why they should use them. For an effective respiratory protection program, there are key issues which need to be covered. Written worksite procedures, mechanisms of evaluations of the performance of the program, fit testing of the instruments, medical assessment, and air quality standards are examples of such elements. Also, there are employers whose working environment are hazard free, but they still use respiratory protective equipment as a preventive measure against such hazards ( Peterson et al., 2015). In this case, the employers need to ensure that the employees are not risked by the use of the respiratory protective devices. Moreover, care should be taken by the employers as they chose the correct instrument to use. They need to consider the extent and types of potential hazards. Also, they need to consider factors that affect respiration performance within the worksite and much more. The last bit is the evaluation of its effectiveness. Evaluation is critical to ensuring that any mistake is corrected before it harms many employees.
In summary, respiratory protection program is critical in ensuring that diseases such lung cancers are curbed. Employers need to do their parts in ensuring that the employees are well protected. This enhances the smoothness of the work and also reduces chances of legal issues in the work environment. The employees also have to do their part to ensure that the respiratory protection program works efficiently. They need to ensure that at any time they are exposed to respiratory hazards, they have put on respiratory protective instruments.
References
Larson, S. (2016). Understanding Requirements of an OSHA Respiratory Protection Program. Occupational health & safety (Waco, Tex.) , 85 (7), 62.
Peterson, K., Novak, D., Stradtman, L., Wilson, D., & Couzens, L. (2015). Hospital respiratory protection practices in 6 US states a public health evaluation study. American journal of infection control , 43 (1), 63-71.
