Respirator Protection Manual

7 Respiratory Protection Program Statement of Responsibilities Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) The specific responsibility for developing and implementing Iowa State University programs for health and safety resides with Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S). In fulfillment of this responsibility, EH&S has developed the ISU Respiratory Protection Program and will assist individual departments in the implementation of a respiratory protection program for their areas. Specifically, EH&S is responsible for: • Developing, implementing and auditing the ISU Respiratory Protection Program. • Assisting supervisors with hazard assessments and respirator selection. • Providing employee respirator certification, training, fit-testing and recordkeeping. Departments Each university department is responsible for evaluating areas under its administrative control and determining whether employees require respiratory protection. Once it has been determined that employees need to participate in the Iowa State University Respiratory Protection Program, departmental supervisors must understand and enforce the provisions of the program. Specifically, responsibilities of departmental supervisors are to ensure that: • Employees receive approval to wear respirators from the Occupational Medicine physician, receive training, fill out appropriate paperwork, and are fit-tested (are certified before respirators are used). • Approved respirators and cartridges are available and are used, based on an employee’s job hazard assessment. • Employee respirators are inspected, maintained, and cleaned on a regular basis. • EH&S is contacted when questions or problems arise. Employees Employees are responsible for: • Observing all practices and procedures contained in the Iowa State University Respiratory Protection Program. • Ensuring correct respirator and cartridge combinations are