Respirator fit testing is more than just a regulatory requirement — it’s a crucial step to protect your employees’ health and safety in environments with airborne hazards. As an employer, ensuring that your team’s respirators provide a proper seal can mean the difference between effective protection and potential exposure.
Helping your employees understand the fit testing process will not only help keep them safe but make compliance easier for you to achieve and maintain. Here are the steps to prepping and testing, and employer’s key responsibilities for record-keeping.
Part One: Preparing for the Fit Test
Step 1: Select the Right Respirator
The first step is choosing the right respirator for each employee to be fit tested. The respirator you pick should be based on several considerations, including:
- Job roles and responsibilities: the type of task(s) your employees will be doing.
- Workplace hazards: Assess the substances, particles, or toxins your employees are likely to encounter, including their concentration levels.
- Length of Exposure: How long employees need to wear the respirator plays into how comfortable it needs to be.
- Facial Dimensions: Respirators come in assorted sizes, so someone’s facial structure and/or size can should be a determining factor in proper fit.
Given all the considerations that go into selecting a respirator and the variety of makes and models out there, it’s helpful to have expert guidance. As part of our fit testing services, Mobile Health can recommend respirators for your employees.
Step 2: Guys May Need to Shave
Men need to shave if their facial hair interferes with (i.e., touches) the respirator’s sealing area. This is because the facial hair won’t allow a proper seal to form, risking exposure to the very particles the respirator is supposed to protect them from. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, which conducts research and makes recommendations while OSHA sets and enforces regulations), created a handy visual guide to facial hair for respirators to help male employees understand their options when it comes to keeping facial hair and safely wearing respirators.
Step 3: Bring the Respirator and PPE
In addition to their respirators, employees need to bring any other PPE they’re likely to wear that could interfere with the respirators seal to their fit testing appointment. This includes safety glasses, face shields, hearing protection, hard hats, coveralls… anything that goes on or around the head and neck area.
Part Two: Complete an OSHA Medical Evaluation
Everyone who is required to fit test must complete an OSHA medical evaluation BEFORE their fit test. Medical evaluations determine if someone is physically able to safely wear a respirator. To streamline this step in the fit testing process, Mobile Health offers online medical evaluations. Online medical evaluations are more convenient for employees because they can take them wherever and whenever it’s convenient for them. Medical evaluations must also be reviewed by a PLHCP (Physician or Licensed Healthcare Professional), and Mobile Health’s online medical evaluations are sent for immediate review.
Part Three: Complete the Respirator Fit Test
There are two types of respirator fit tests: qualitative fit testing (QLFT) and quantitative fit testing (QNFT). Which one your employees need to complete will be determined based on the type of mask they’re testing.
Quantitative Fit Test
Quantitative fit testing is required for full-face masks and can also be used on half-face masks.
- A probe is attached to the respirator, usually by making a hole in it.Note: The respirator cannot be used again due to the hole.
- Tester puts on their respirator and any other PPE.
- The tester is asked to do basic exercises outlined by OSHA that include bending over, talking, and more.
- Depending on the specific respirator being tested, a test agent will be introduced, or a vacuum will be created.
- The machine on the other end of the probe measures how much leakage is around the seal and comes up with a number known as a fit factor.
- For half-face respirators, the fit factor needs to be 100 or more to pass the fit test.
- For full-face respirators, the fit factor needs 500 or higher to pass.
Qualitative Fit Test
Qualitative fit testing can only be done with half-face masks.
- Tester puts on their respirator and any other PPE.
- A hood is placed over their head.
- A small amount of a test agent is released into the hood.
- The tester is asked to do OSHA-outlined exercises, including breathing normally, deep breathing, moving their head side-to-side, and a few others.
- If the tester DOES NOT taste the test agent, they pass their fit test.
Because the quantitative fit test gives a numerical value that demonstrates the effectiveness of the respirators’ seal, it’s generally a preferred testing method. Qualitative fit testing is subjective, because it’s based on the tester’s sense of taste , so it’s easier to “fake” a pass.
Employers: Keep All Fit Testing Results
No matter which fit testing method your employees undergo, record-keeping is a key aspect of compliance with OSHA’s respiratory protection standard. Medical evaluations need to be stored for each employee’s tenure plus 30 years. Fit test results need to be stored until the next fit test happens, which is at least annually. Mobile Health has a Respirator Fit Testing Portal that handles all document storage in an OSHA- and HIPAA-compliant fashion, plus gives you a full view of your respirator fit testing program. It makes compliance management easier and supports your written Respiratory Protection Plan — another cornerstone of compliance.
Lean on Our Fit Testing Experts
Respirator fit testing is one of the most regulated OSHA requirements. It’s also one of the most complex, and important to get right. If your company is struggling with any or all aspects of employee fit testing, Mobile Health is here to help. Contact us and a member of our Fit Testing team will follow up with you.
