Where respiratory protective equipment (RPE). is used as a control measure under Health and Safety Legislation it is vital that the selected RPE is adequate and suitable.
To ensure that the selected RPE has the potential to provide adequate protection for individual wearers, the ACoPs supporting COSHH, stipulate that tight-fitting RPE must be fit tested.
Note: A tight-fitting facepiece is a full face mask, a half mask, or a filtering facepiece (commonly referred to as a disposable mask).
For RPE to be suitable it must be matched to the job, the environment, the anticipated airborne contaminant exposure level, and the wearer. As people come in all sorts of shapes and sizes it is unlikely that one particular type, or size of RPE facepiece, will fit everyone.
Fit testing will help ensure that the equipment selected is suitable for the wearer.
Fit testing should be conducted by a competent person.
Competence can be demonstrated through achieving accreditation under the ‘Fit2Fit RPE Fit Test Providers Accreditation Scheme’. This Scheme has been developed by the British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) together with industry stakeholders and is supported by HSE.
Note: A tight-fitting facepiece is a full face mask, a half mask, or a filtering facepiece (commonly referred to as a disposable mask).
We are delighted to announce that S R Waite Group company BSFM Ltd are now accredited trainers to the industry and have dedicated trainers available to help companies work safely on site.
