Respiratory Protective Equipment

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Respiratory Protective Equipment
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Types of RPE

• 1. Respirators
• Designed to purify respirable air by inhaling it
  through a medium which removes the contaminants
• 2. Breathing Apparatus
• Supplies pure respirable air from an
  uncontaminated source

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Types of Respirator

• Filtering Facepiece Respirator
• Half-mask Respirator
• Full-face Respirator
• Powered Clean-air Respirator
• Powered Visor Respirator

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Filtering Facepiece Respirator

• Piece of filtering material worn over the nose
  mouth and secured by twin elastic headbands
  (MEMS)
• Cheap disposable
• Face seal cannot be fully achieved over facial
  hair

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Half-mask Respirator

• Flexible facepiece which covers nose mouth, to
  which is fixed a replaceable cartridge capable of
  removing airborne contaminants during inhalation
• Single or twin cartridges
• Facial hair reduces efficiency
• Breathing is not easy
• Speech and vision are slightly reduced

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Full-face Respirator

• Cover mouth, nose eyes
• Replaceable canisters which are either fitted to
  the facepiece or connected via a flexible
  corrugated rubber breathing tube
• Canisters are for specific hazards

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Powered Clean-air Respirator

• Respirator air is pumped into facepiece
• Positive pressure which reduces fatigue, allows
  longer work periods and reduces risk of leaks
• Designs are either half or full-face, or helmets
  with a fabric skirt
• Cannot be used in oxygen deficient areas

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Powered Visor Respirator

• Purified air is blown down over the users face
  behind a protective visor
• Contaminated air is drawn through a pre-filter
  and then into a filter bag before it is directed
  over the face
• It is powered by nickel cadmium batteries

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Types of Breathing Apparatus

• Fresh Air Hose Apparatus
• Compressed Airline Apparatus
• Constant flow
• Demand flow
• Self-Contained Apparatus
• Escape BA
• General BA
• Oxygen BA

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Nominal Protection Factor

• NpfConcentration of atmospheric contaminant
• Concentration of contaminant in facepiece
• The higher the npf, the greater the the degree of
  protection

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Typical NPFs

• Filtering face piece 5
• Half-mask 10
• Full-facepiece 500-1000
• Powered Clean Air 500
• Powered Visor 10-20
• Fresh Air Hose 50
• Compressed Airline 1000-2000
• Self Contained 2000

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Selection

• Selection of RPE is based on
• Type of hazard
• Contaminant concentration safely tolerated by
  user and
• Contaminant concentration
• The concept of NPF is based on the fact that
  ingress of contaminant into RPE may (and can)
  occur

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Face-fit Test

• Stated NPF value is not reached in practice, due
  to poor fit
• User should carry out test each time RPE is put
  on
• Close inlet to facepiece
• Inhale gently to create negative pressure
• Hold breath for 10-15 seconds
• If pressure is lost, then headbands may need
  tightening to increase seal