Why is it important for me to know who my respiratory protection program administrator is?

The safety officer, industrial hygienist or designee of your facility, is responsible to run the respiratory protection program and evaluate its effectiveness. He/she is trained to identify, assess, and control types of potential inhalation hazards in your work area. He/she must be familiar with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) and the use and application of the respirators at the particular workplace. Also, he/she is responsible to ensure you are provided with an appropriate and suitable respirator that is provided at no cost by the employer to the employee, training, and medical evaluations to protect you from inhaling harmful contaminants (contaminants could include biologic agents such as bacteria and viruses).

If you have questions like whether you should be wearing respiratory protection, what kind of respiratory protection you should be wearing, how to maintain this equipment or how to put on or take off this equipment, you should contact your administrator.