OSHA's Respirable Crystalline Silica standard rule defines how the construction industry should protect workers from breathing silica dust. Unfortunately, not all of the terminology around respiratory protection and respirators is easy to understand. What’s APF 10 or 25? Is 10 better or worse than 25? What about N95 and P100? mFEF, QLFF, PPF?
If your head is swimming just thinking about employee respiratory protection, you’re not alone.
Here’s three places online to help demystify the complex world of respirators to a much more understandable and palatable process, getting you quickly from violations to full compliance.
- The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene has descriptions straight from the American Industrial Hygiene Association Respiratory Protection Committee (AIHARPC). You can request access here.
- OSHA itself published a fact sheet about controlling silica dust here.
- Several of your questions may also be answered in these frequently asked questions about the silica rule.
