CHAPTER 16RESPIRATORY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
JAMES S. JOHNSON
JSJ & Associates, Pleasanton, CA, 94588
16.1 INTRODUCTION
Respiratory protective devices (RPDs),1 commonly called respirators, are one of many types of personal protective equipment (PPE) devices used to protect workers from a specific hazard. Some of these devices such as hard hats, steel‐toed shoes, or eyeglasses are used to protect a worker from hazards that are not likely to occur on a regular basis. RPDs, however, fall into a category of devices that are being used to protect workers from an existing or recognized and real‐time hazard. If the RPDs fail to provide the expected protection, it is likely that the wearer will be exposed and suffer immediate or delayed adverse consequences. RPDs are also unlike other personal safety devices such as hard hats, shoes, and safety glasses in that their proper selection for a specific hazard is more complex and requires training, education, and specific workplace monitoring and analysis.
RPDs have been used as early as Roman times, and scattered mention of them occurs in reports by physicians related to industrial processes during the Middle Ages. Until the nineteenth century, all RPDs were air‐purifying devices intended to prevent the inhalation of a variety of particulates, aerosols, and gases. They varied in design, ranging from animal bladders or rags wrapped around the nose and mouth to full face masks made of glass with air inlets covered by particulate filters. During ...