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Respiratory Protection Nor-Cal Construction has developed a respiratory protection program for all its field personnel. Key elements of that program are given below: • All employees within the past year,will have been certified by a licensed occupational physician as being medically fit to wear a respirator,prior to each employee being fit-tested and issued a respirator. • All employees required to wear a respirator, as a part of their job, will be certified annually as medically fit to wear a respirator. • Only employees who have been trained to properly wear and maintain respirators, shall be allowed to use respiratory protection. • Prior to issuance of a respirator to any employee, and annually thereafter,the employee will be quantitatively fit-tested. • Respirator users shall be instructed in the proper use as well as limitations of respirators. • If an employee has difficulty in breathing either during the fit test or during use, he/she shall be evaluated medically to determine if he/she can wear a respirator safely while performing assigned tasks. • Positive and negative pressure tests shall be performed each time the respirator is donned. • Only properly cleaned and maintained NIOSH approved respirators shall be used on this site. • Selection of respirators, as well as any decisions regarding upgrading or downgrading of respiratory protection,will be made by the Health and Safety Officer. • Air purifying respirators will not be used for heavily contaminated environments. The nature and concentration of any contaminant present should be known prior actually to any worker's using an air-purifying respirator. • Used air-purifying respirator cartridges shall be replaced at the end of each shift or whenever the worker using the item notices either an increased breathing resistance or determines that a chemical break-through has occurred. Care should be taken to establish a cartridge replacement cycle prior to break-through occurrences. • Contact lenses shall not be worn while using any type of respiratory protection. • Air-supplied respirators shall be assembled according to manufacturer's specifications. Hose length, couplings, valves, regulators,manifolds, and all accessories shall meet both ANSI and the manufacturer's requirements. • Respirators shall be cleaned and sanitized daily after use or more often if required. The Health and Safety Officer shall determine the cleaning and sanitizing cycles for respirators. • Respirators shall be inspected during cleaning. Worn or deteriorated parts shall be replaced. • Facial hair that might interfere with a good face piece seal or proper operation of the respirator is prohibited. • Nor-Cal Construction's Project Manager shall review the respiratory protection program daily in order to ensure that each employee is wearing an properly 16