Respiratory Protection Could be Essential to your Health

Did you know that an estimated 5 million Americans are required to wear respirators while at work? About 1.3 million workplaces involve dangerous air quality, and require that their employees wear some sort of filtering mask in order to breathe in clean and quality air. Most often, respirators protect workers from harmful dust, toxic mists, gases, smoke, sprays, or vapors. In some situations, the workplace simply provides insufficient oxygen. No matter what the situation, the air that you breathe is a determining factor in your health level. A person who breathes in poor-quality air, or inhales fumes, mists, and smokes that are detrimental to health, are at a higher risk to horrible illnesses like cancer and ling disease.

Because air quality is so important, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration has created a respiratory protection standard. By following this standard, workplaces are able to avert hundreds of deaths and thousands of illnesses every single year. Unfortunately, a lot of workplaces don’t make respiratory protection a priority. When used correctly, there are two basic ways that respirators protect their users.

First, the respirators remove contaminants from the air before it is inhaled. Particulate respirators filter our harmful particles and air-purifying respirators can take out the toxic gases and chemicals in the air. Other respirators actually use a reserve of clean air, especially when oxygen is not readily available. If your workplace failed to provide respirators even though they are necessary in your line of work, or you have fallen ill because of the air quality in your workplace, then you can contact a personal injury attorney to seek workers compensation for your illnesses. Talk to us today to get started on your case. You have the right to a safe work environment where you can be sure that you are not going to fall ill because of a company’s failure to observe safety standards.