The United States health department urges that those who work in surroundings with marginal air safety put on NIOSH N95 dust masks in a bid to prevent them from contracting diseases that emanate from such surroundings.
NIOSH N95 masks serve several purposes. They're not limited to only filtering the dust, but also act as a constant reminder for the wearer that the particular place is dangerous. By not allowing the user to touch their mouths with their potentially contaminated hands, these respirators serve another beneficial purpose. With regard to the design of N95 respirators, there exist safety guidelines for people working in health care environments regarding recommended face-fit. These guidelines are provided by NIOSH which is an organization located in the USA and having its head office in Washington DC. It's research labs can also be found in the following states: Alabama, California and Virginia.
NIOSH is a sub organization of the CDC which is part of the department of health, thus its regulations and policies can be based on reliably. It's this body that issues standards for the so called NIOSH N95 masks which is very similar to a normal dust respirator but is made under the standards published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Incorporated in the design, there is normally a flexible pad that is held over the nose and mouth with the help of elastic or even rubber straps so as to prevent one from inhaling dust when working in a dusty place such as on a building site. This NIOSH N95 dust respirator is put on in exactly the same way that a paint mask is put on, but one should note the difference as each of them serves a different function, and using one in place of the other might expose you to pathological dangers.
It is equally important to be able to fit your N95 particulate masks in a manner consistent with the manufacturers instructions, as failure to do this exposes the wearer to potential risk. Dust respirators are supposed to protect users from certain specific dangers only. For example, a dust mask will not protect the wearer against chemicals in the form of a vapor. You would mitigate this danger by wearing a paint respirator, but if you confuse the two and use a dust mask in place of a paint mask, then you're truly exposed to the chemicals.
Regular dust masks are generally less expensive when compared with conventional masks but may provide a similar degree of protection, and may also be less predisposed to misuse. A few dust respiratorshave improvements that integrate 2 straps around the head, usually one on the upper and the other on the lower part of the head with strips of aluminum that one can bend in order to achieve a custom fit. There is also usually foam rubber on the inside of the mask to ensure good protection even if the aluminum isn't able to be fit quite as snugly as it should.
The respirators that undergo these improvements are generally subjected to controlled standards offered by NIOSH and are thus referred to as N95 particulate masks where 'N' tells us 'not oil resistant' and the 'ninety-five' is a reference to its efficiency which is 95 percent.
NIOSH N95 masks serve several purposes. They're not limited to only filtering the dust, but also act as a constant reminder for the wearer that the particular place is dangerous. By not allowing the user to touch their mouths with their potentially contaminated hands, these respirators serve another beneficial purpose. With regard to the design of N95 respirators, there exist safety guidelines for people working in health care environments regarding recommended face-fit. These guidelines are provided by NIOSH which is an organization located in the USA and having its head office in Washington DC. It's research labs can also be found in the following states: Alabama, California and Virginia.
NIOSH is a sub organization of the CDC which is part of the department of health, thus its regulations and policies can be based on reliably. It's this body that issues standards for the so called NIOSH N95 masks which is very similar to a normal dust respirator but is made under the standards published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Incorporated in the design, there is normally a flexible pad that is held over the nose and mouth with the help of elastic or even rubber straps so as to prevent one from inhaling dust when working in a dusty place such as on a building site. This NIOSH N95 dust respirator is put on in exactly the same way that a paint mask is put on, but one should note the difference as each of them serves a different function, and using one in place of the other might expose you to pathological dangers.
It is equally important to be able to fit your N95 particulate masks in a manner consistent with the manufacturers instructions, as failure to do this exposes the wearer to potential risk. Dust respirators are supposed to protect users from certain specific dangers only. For example, a dust mask will not protect the wearer against chemicals in the form of a vapor. You would mitigate this danger by wearing a paint respirator, but if you confuse the two and use a dust mask in place of a paint mask, then you're truly exposed to the chemicals.
Regular dust masks are generally less expensive when compared with conventional masks but may provide a similar degree of protection, and may also be less predisposed to misuse. A few dust respiratorshave improvements that integrate 2 straps around the head, usually one on the upper and the other on the lower part of the head with strips of aluminum that one can bend in order to achieve a custom fit. There is also usually foam rubber on the inside of the mask to ensure good protection even if the aluminum isn't able to be fit quite as snugly as it should.
The respirators that undergo these improvements are generally subjected to controlled standards offered by NIOSH and are thus referred to as N95 particulate masks where 'N' tells us 'not oil resistant' and the 'ninety-five' is a reference to its efficiency which is 95 percent.
About the Author:
Kyle Zoltowski is a national correspondent with over ten years editorial experience. Kyle is presently employed as a publicist for fuzing.com, and has become the company authority on N95 Mask and N95 Face Masks.
