Do I Need A Respirator

When you are exposed to asbestos, silica, or other dusts that can cause cancer at levels above the allowable exposure limits - and there is no other way to keep the exposure levels down to safe levels - NIOSH recommends that you use a respirator. For low-level exposures, high efficiency filter respirators can protect you. (These are N-, R-, or P-100 filters for non-powered respirators and HE filters for powered respirators.) For high exposures, you will need positive-pressure supplied air. NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

OSHA requires a respirator for most work with asbestos.

If you use a filter respirator, whether you need an N-, R-, or P-series filter depends on whether there are oil particles where you are working

• If there are no oil particles in the work area, it's OK to use a filter of any series - N-, R-, or P-.
• If there may be oil particles where you are working - for instance, in lubricants, cutting fluids, or glycerine - you cannot use an N filter. Use an R- or P- filter.
• If there may be oil particles and the filter will be used for more than one work shift, use only a P- filter.

To help remember which filter to use, think of:

N for Not resistant to oil,
R for Resistant to oil
P for oil Proof

If you use a respirator, use one that is NIOSH approved. (If a respirator is NIOSH approved, chemical cartridges, particulate filters, and the box it comes in will say "NIOSH." Self-contained breathing apparatus will have a NIOSH label on the backpack.) And check the NIOSH-approved instructions for the model you are using.

This information is from the NIOSH website: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/96-101/

The OSHA asbestos regulation is at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10862.

Or, contact your local OSHA office, listed at http://www.osha.gov/html/oshdir.html