Time to take a deep breath on respirator selection 09 July 2013

Millions of workers across industries are risking their long-term health by wearing respiratory masks that are not fit for purpose, warns workplace equipment supplier Slingsby.

Slingsby marketing director Lee Wright points to common occupational respiratory health problems such as asthma, pneumoconiosis and silicosis, as well as the growing number of asbestos-related illnesses being diagnosed every year.

"Respiratory problems are still a major problem across lots of industries and can affect everyone from care workers to bakery staff and beauticians to farmers," insists Wright.

"Plus even today there are huge numbers of workers still exposed to all kinds of cancer-causing substances, such as silica, diesel exhaust fumes and chemicals. Asbestos is also a major danger – even though it was banned in 1999 it is still found in millions of buildings."

Lee believes that employees rarely check that the masks they wear offer sufficient protection against the hazards they're exposed to.

"Although disposable masks often look very similar, they can vary greatly and offer very different levels of protection," he advises.

"There are three main classifications that offer low, medium and high filtering and different categories, depending on individual hazards, which can include brick dust, concrete, ferros metal fumes, fibreglass, lead fumes, MDF, mineral fibres, plaster, rockwool, sandstone, silica, welding [products] as well as soft and hard wood," explains Wright.

"With so much variation it's vital that both employees and employers double-check they're using the right masks for the job they're doing."

By law, employers must carry out a risk assessment of any hazardous work environments and provide respiratory protection for anyone who is exposed to dust, mist, fumes, vapours, gas or situations where oxygen levels could be higher or lower than normal.

Brian Tinham

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HC Slingsby plc

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