Safe use manual
6. Personal Protective Equipment
Page 15
6.3 Using the respirator (fit, training, storage and mantenance)
The degree of protection afforded by a respirator requiring a tight facial seal depends on several factors, including the effectiveness of the seal to the facial skin, the efficiency and capacity of the air-purifying or supply element, and the inward leakage through respirator components. Leakage through respirator components can be eliminated by proper training, repair and maintenance procedures.
6.4 Clothes, washing facilities and services
In accordance with the ILO Code of Practice, a company must establish a policy concerning work clothing, protective clothing, clothes washing, change rooms and lunch facilities.
With regard to clothing, coveralls should be provided to each employee in contact with chrysotile asbestos or chrysotile asbestos containing products. Vacuum cleaners for de-dusting of clothes should be provided near the work area and/or near the entrance of the locker room where work clothes are removed and stored. Where a respirator is worn, it should be removed only after de-dusting. It is prohibited to take work clothes home.
Where dust concentrations exceed the permissible exposure limit value, workers should be provided appropriate respiratory protection equipment, as well as special protective clothing, to avoid contamination of working clothes. This special protective clothing should consist of a one-piece, disposable hooded garment.Protective clothing must be removed immediately after usage and discarded in a special container.
All employees working in direct contact with chrysotile asbestos must use the laundry system, provided by the employer, for their work clothes. Coveralls or other working clothes must be collected on a regular basis (weekly). These should be laundered under controlled conditions to prevent the emission of airborne asbestos during handling, transport and laundering.
Shower facilities should be situated between the work area and the clean locker room. No meals are to be taken into the workplace. A separate lunchroom must be made available to all employees. Prior to entering into the lunchroom during a work shift, special protective clothing must be removed and regular coveralls cleaned with a HEPA vacuum. This room must be isolated from the work area.
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