Respiratory Protection for Healthcare Workers

Working in healthcare comes with many rewards, but the nature of the job also involves lots of health and safety risks. Healthcare workers encounter an assortment of workplace dangers, from bloodborne diseases to hazardous waste. Exposure to airborne hazards like infectious pathogens and toxic chemicals is among healthcare’s most common and serious dangers.

Health and safety protocols and best practices make a huge difference in a high-risk work environment, enhancing work conditions to better benefit workers and customers. Respiratory protection for healthcare workers is one of the many ways medical facilities can keep their employees and patients safe from airborne hazards.

The Role of Respirators in Healthcare

Respirators are a form of personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to cover the nose and mouth and protect against breathing in airborne hazards. Although similar in appearance, respirators differ from surgical masks because they seal onto your face, leaving zero gaps for air to get through. The only air that makes its way to you must first pass through the mask’s filtration system. Respirators provide efficient respiratory protection for healthcare workers defending against large and small airborne particles and preventing the spread of serious diseases such as tuberculosis and SARs.

OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard

As the overseers of all things workplace health and safety, OSHA has a respiratory protection standard that ensures the proper use of respirators in the workplace. The OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard covers the best health and safety practices for the use of respirators as effective PPE. OSHA establishes lots of different protocols when using respirators in the workplace, from outlining proper storage to application. The standards determine what type of respirator is compliant with ideal health and safety requirements, how to best use respirators, and permissible practices. Not abiding by OSHA’s respiratory protection standards breaches your OSHA compliance and puts your workers and workplace in danger.

Respiratory Protection Training

Part of the OSHA respiratory protection standard requires employers to create a respiratory protection program that details specific procedures taken to guarantee effective use of respirators in the workplace. Protection programs include plans and processes for:

• Selecting respirators
• Testing respirator fit
• Ensuring respirator sanitation
• Providing respiratory protection training

Proper use and knowledge of respirators guarantees greater success with the implementation of this PPE.

Keep your workplace safe with effective and efficient respiratory protection. Protecting healthcare workers from the dangers of their job, like airborne hazards, allows them to provide the best care and services to their patients while keeping everyone healthy and safe.

With Gamma Compliance’s OSHA training manuals, you can stay in the know about all the required health and safety practices for your workplace. Check out our training programs and enhance your respiratory protection as well as other health and safety defenses.