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Respirator Info Available to Help Reduce Risks of Illness and Injury on the Job in Georgia, Nation

On Behalf of | Feb 7, 2012 | Atlanta work accident, Georgia Work Accidents, Hazardous Chemicals |

There are 17 new videos released recently by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to help to educate workers about the proper way to use respirators on the job. Educating yourself on the use of these devices can help to reduce the risk of a work-related injury in Georgia and elsewhere.There are nine videos in English and eight videos in Spanish. Our Atlanta workers compensation attorneys encourage you to view these videos if you work in the construction industry. Some of the topics discussed in these videos are fit-testing, training, use and detecting counterfeit respirators. They’re even available with closed captioning.

There’s even a page on the Safety and Health topics page regarding Respiratory Protection on OSHA’s website. This page offers the information on the hazards associated with these industries, various training materials and details on the Respiratory Protection Standard.

Every year, there are about 5 million employees who have to wear respirators on the job. These workers occupy nearly 1.5 million work areas in the country. These respirators are used to protect employees against insufficient oxygen levels, gases, mists, smoke, harmful dusts, sprays and vapors. Some of these work environment hazards can potentially cause lung impairment, cancer, a number of other diseases and even death.

Employers are required to comply with OSHA’s respiratory Protection Standard. Officials believe that this standard helps to reduce the risk of hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries and illnesses every year.

Respirators are specially designed to provide clean and filtered air to workers. The respirators work by filtering out the dangerous particles from the air that a worker might inhale.

Employees who have beards should be careful when using a respirator. If there is any chance your facial hair could somehow break the seal and allow unfiltered air into your lungs, there’s a problem. Beards and sideburns can cause outside air to make it to the employee before being filtered correctly, increasing the injury risk.

If you’re required to wear a respirator on the job, trim your facial hair so that it doesn’t interfere with the seal.

You also want to make sure your mask isn’t loose. You want a tight-fitting face mask to ensure outside air is making its way in.

Employees are urged to review the new videos and material that was recently released by OSHA. This information can help you stay safe on the job and avoid any unnecessary injuries or death. If you feel that there’s a problem with work safety at your job, speak up! Point out hazards you observe to help to reduce the risks of an accident.

If you or someone who is close to you has been injured or killed on the job or needs to file a disability claim in Atlanta or the elsewhere in the area, it is critical for to contact J. Franklin Burns, P.C., to speak with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney. To schedule a free consultation call 1-404-920-4708 .