Respirator Selection Guide

An estimated 5 million workers are required to wear respirators in 1.3 million workplaces throughout the United States according to OSHA.

Respirators protect workers against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors, and sprays. These hazards may cause cancer, lung impairment, other diseases, or death.

Compliance with the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard could avert hundreds of deaths and thousands of illnesses annually. The following will provide safety and health information relevant to respiratory protection.

Keep In Mind

• Respirators should be used for protection only when engineering controls have been shown to be infeasible for the control of the hazard or during the interim period when engineering controls are being installed.

• Nothing stated in this selection guide modifies the actual requirements of the respirator standard.

• The display or use of particular products in this selection guide is for illustrative purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement by Argus.

Which Respirator is right for you?

In order to select an appropriate respirator you must:

• Conduct an exposure assessment to determine the type and amount of hazardous exposure

• Take into account the factors that can influence respirator selection such as job-site and worker characteristics

• Understand the assigned protection factors

• Know the various kinds of respirators and their relevant characteristics

Exposure Assessment

Employers must characterize the nature and magnitude of employee exposures to respiratory hazards before selecting respiratory protection equipment. Paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of the final rule requires the employer to identify and evaluate the respiratory hazard(s) in the workplace. Employers must make a "reasonable estimate" of the employee exposures anticipated to occur as a result of those hazards, including those likely to be encountered in reasonably foreseeable emergency situations, and must also identify the physical state and chemical form of such contaminant(s). The final rule does not specify how the employer is to make reasonable estimates of employee exposures for the purposes of selecting respirators.

>> More Information

Factors That Can Influence Respirator Selection

• The Physical Configuration of the Jobsite

• Worker Medical Condition

• Worker Comfort

>> How to Select a Respirator

Assigned Protection Factors

The assigned protection factor (APF) of a respirator reflects the level of protection that a properly functioning respirator would be expected to provide to a population of properly fitted and trained users. For example, an APF of 10 for a respirator means that a user could expect to inhale no more than one tenth of the airborne contaminant present.

Table of APFs for various types of Respirators

Air-purifying vs. Atmosphere-supplying Respirators

	Air-purifying Respirators have filters, cartridges, or canisters that remove contaminants from the air by passing the ambient air through the air-purifying element before it reaches the user.
	Atmosphere-supplying Respirators supply clean air directly to the user from a source other than the air surrounding the user.

Respirator Types

You may also contact Argus-HAZCO for further guidance and selection information.

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