If your employees may be exposed to airborne toxins, you need to protect them. You must ensure that the respirators they use actually work well under your job conditions and that employees can still meet the physical demands of the work.
OSHA standards require you to complete an Employer Authorization and Information for Respiratory Evaluation Form with the following information:
- Type of respirator
- Weight
- Expected length and frequency of use
- Work effort expected during use
- Work conditions, such as temperature and humidity
- Your plan for protecting workers from airborne toxins, including providing a respirator
- Other personal protective equipment (PPE) that might be used with the respirator
We design the second part of the respirator physical to test if the respirators interfere with breathing, vision, ability to communicate, and use of needed equipment.
You need to conduct a respirator physical exam for each new employee that will be exposed to airborne toxins. These tests should be done every year; however, you may need to conduct a new test sooner than that under these conditions:
- You change the respirator for an employee
- The employee’s health changes
- The conditions of your workplace change
- Regulations change
Patient Plus respirator tests begin by having your employee fill out an OSHA Respirator Medical Evaluation Questionnaire.
Next, our licensed examiner who is sometimes a physician, nurse practitioner, or other licensed healthcare provider, goes through the questionnaire to flag any responses that may be concerning. If there are issues, the employee will need a physical medical exam.
If we find no issues, the employee receives a written medical opinion for a respirator medical clearance, which is a necessary step before the employee can get fitted for a respirator.
Should an employee not succeed in getting a respirator medical clearance, we can sometimes recommend alternatives that are OSHA compliant.
