Safety Tip of the Week – Respiratory Protective User Seal Check

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Standard 1910.134, respirator users should complete a seal check every time one wears a respirator to ensure an adequate seal is achieved.

How Do We Complete a User Seal Check on a Filtering Facepiece Respirator?

We prepare to wear our respirator by the following these steps:

• We cover our respirators filter surface with the soft portion of our hands as much as possible and then inhale.
• Our respirator facepiece should collapse on our face and we should not be sensing or feeling cool air from outside the mask passing between the skin on our face and the seal portion of the respirator facepiece.
• When you check the seal and air leaks around the nose area, we should use our fingertips to readjust the respirator nosepiece by placing our fingertips at the top of the metal nose slip.
• We then slide our fingertips down both sides of the metal strip to begin molding the nose areas more efficiently to the shape of our nose.
• Finally, we readjust the straps along the side of our head until a proper seal is achieved. Remember, when we cannot achieve a proper seal due to air leakage, we probably need to be fit tested again for a different respirator model or size.

RESPIRATOR SEAL CHECKING IS SERIOUS BUSINESS!