OSHA Provides New Video and Poster on Workplace Respirator Use
A new video and poster from OSHA demonstrate how to properly wear and remove a respirator in the workplace and mitigate the risk of coronavirus exposure.
Many industries and workplaces will need to enforce the use of respirators to best protect workers from the coronavirus exposure. OSHA’s recently released video and poster will show workers how to don and doff respirators to reduce the wearer’s risk of viral exposure and help prevent its spread to others, according to a news release.
The video and poster—in English and Spanish—demonstrate and describe the seven steps every worker should follow when putting on and taking off a respirator:
- Wash hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60 percent alcohol before putting on and after removing the respirator;
- Inspect the respirator for damage;
- Cover mouth and nose with the respirator and pull strap over the head so that it rests at the back of the head. A second strap should rest at the back of the neck. Use the metal nose clips to mold the respirator to the shape of the nose;
- Adjust the respirator by placing both hands over it and inhaling and exhaling. Readjust the straps if air leaks from the respirator’s edges;
- Avoid touching the respirator while wearing it;
- Remove the respirator by grabbing the strap(s) from behind. Do not touch the front; and
- If the respirator does not need to be reused because of supply shortages, discard it in a closed-bin waste receptacle.
Visit OSHA’s Publications webpage for other useful workplace safety information.