SAN BERNARDINO/SAN FRANCISCO -- The State Compensation Insurance Fund will sponsor a “Respirator Fit-Testing Seminar,” in San Bernardino July 11. The seminar, which is free to current State Fund policyholders, is designed to help policyholders meet Cal/OSHA requirements for safe and effective respirator usage, and provide employees with a quantitative fit-test of their respirators.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an estimated 5 million workers are required to wear respirators in 1.3 million workplaces throughout the U.S. Respirators protect workers against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors and sprays. These hazards may cause cancer, lung impairment, other diseases, or death.

Cal/OSHA standards require the use of respirators to protect employees from breathing contaminated and/or oxygen-deficient air when engineering controls are not sufficient to reduce respiratory hazards to a level below established exposure limits. In addition, each worker who uses a tight-fitting respirator must know how to perform a user seal check to ensure that an adequate seal is achieved each time the respirator is put on.

The featured speaker at the seminar will be State Fund Certified Industrial Hygienist Bonnie Sander. The seminar will be offered in two-parts with a morning or afternoon option. The fit-test portion of each seminar will be conducted in both English and Spanish.

The first part of the morning and afternoon sessions will provide the latest Cal/OSHA requirements to managers, supervisors and other Respiratory Protection Program (RPP) administrators. This part of the seminar will be conducted in English only.

The second portion sessions will be conducted in English and Spanish (Spanish translators will be made available) and is intended for employees who wear tight-fitting respirators. Training will cover proper use of respirators, performing seal checks, limitations on respirator use, and respirator maintenance and storage. A fit-testing using controlled negative pressure (CNP) quantitative fit-testing equipment will be performed on each employee to ensure their respirator provides an adequate facial seal.

Prior to the seminar, policyholders are required to provide State Fund with the brand and model of the type of respirator that will be fit-tested. It is also recommend that at least one other respirator be made available to the employee being fit-tested in case the initial respirator fails the test.

Employees who will be fit-tested must also meet the following requirements:

• Employees must bring their respirator (no dust masks allowed).
• A medical clearance by a physician or other licensed health care professional.
• Your company's written Respiratory Protection Program.
• No hair growth between the skin and the face piece sealing surface.
• During the fit-test, employees must also wear any regularly-worn safety equipment that could interfere with the respirator fit.

The schedule for the seminar will be as follows:

Morning Training Sessions

• Part A: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. – Supervisor Training (English only)
• Part B: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. – Fit Test Clinic for Employees/Supervisors (Bilingual)

Afternoon Training Sessions

• Part A: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. – Supervisor Training (English only)
• Part B: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. – Fit Test Clinic for Employees/Supervisors (Bilingual)

To register, please call Nora Flores at (909) 384-4969, or send a fax to her attention at (909) 384-4717. To register via email, please email neflores@scif.com.

The seminar will be held at State Fund’s San Bernardino District Office, 375 W. Hospitality Lane in San Bernardino. The seminar is part of a series of educational programs State Compensation Insurance Fund is holding throughout the state in order to help employers create safe workplaces. State Fund has the largest safety and health services program among California workers’ compensation insurance carriers.

Additional seminars in this series of educational programs are also available.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Established by the California Legislature in 1914, San Francisco-based State Compensation Insurance Fund is a self-supporting, nonprofit, fairly competitive public enterprise that provides workers’ compensation insurance coverage at cost to California employers.