Is your respirator really protecting you?

Posted on Friday 1 January 2010

If you are a user of Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) that requires a face seal, it is a requirement of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that each respirator is face fit checked to each user. This is to ensure that the mask is capable of achieving a satisfactory seal on each user’s face and will not allow inward leakage, when worn correctly.

To undertake this face fit checking, it is essential and a requirement, that the RPE face fit tester is competent in undertaking the process. Recent statistics released from the Fit2Fit accreditation scheme for face fit testers has highlighted serious concerns in this area.

Whilst the Fit2Fit scheme has assessed over 300 candidates to accredit their competence at RPE fit testing, of these only 60% initially passed. Of those who failed the assessment, less than 50% have actually come back to be reassessed. In other words of the 300 assessed some 60 candidates have failed to prove their competence in RPE fit testing, yet may be still offering the service. Fit2Fit’s opinion is that we have only seen fit testers who believe they are competent and could pass the assessment. The remaining majority have concerns in their abilities and thus have not applied.

The Fit2Fit scheme was originally established by BSIF with the strong support of the HSE because it was recognised that the quality of RPE fit testing in the UK was often unsatisfactory. Whislt the guidelines for RPE fit testing supplied by the HSE offer excellent and simple advice, their implementation is often poor. On too many occasions, the RPE fit tester had received no training, was frequently the person who had been wearing RPE the longest or had been trained but had become ‘rusty’ and was not testing adequately. Poor fit testing all too easily leads to poor fit, which exposes the wearer to the respiratory hazard.