Respiratory Protection - have you selected the right product?

Recently, there have been a number of enforced changes to the standards for personal protective equipment [PPE] providing respiratory protection. Specifiers and managers involved in the selection of suitable protection against hazardous dusts and particles will need to be fully aware of the impact of these amendments to make competent judgements when deciding which products to use and deploy.

All PPE should be supplied with information to show the standard to which it conforms. These new/amended standards can be identified by an addition to this reference indicating that it has been "amended" with an additional date. Depending on which standard is being referenced this will be 2007, 2008 or 2009, e.g. EN149:2001 + A1:2009. Life is made more difficult by the fact that products manufactured before these amendments were published will not carry such a reference but could still be suitable for use. In all cases where these amendments are not marked, the BSIF would strongly suggest that suppliers are consulted to confirm whether the product being used provides suitable protection against the identified hazards. If in any doubt, the BSIF InfoDesk is willing to help - contact us on 01745 585600 or b.s.i.f@btconnect.com.