{"id":671,"date":"2025-02-25T02:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T02:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hazardco.com\/uk\/?p=671"},"modified":"2025-02-25T19:55:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T19:55:43","slug":"respiratory-protection-equipment-types-of-rpe-and-how-to-use-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hazardco.com\/uk\/blog\/respiratory-protection-equipment-types-of-rpe-and-how-to-use-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Respiratory Protection Equipment: Types of RPE and how to use them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE) is essential gear for protecting you from inhaling hazardous substances. In this blog, we\u2019ll explore the important role of RPE, whether you are dealing with airborne contaminants like asbestos, fumes, or dust, RPE is an essential protective equipment (PPE) that makes sure you can breathe safely. Join us as we deep dive into the different types of RPE, their applications, and how they can protect you from potential health risks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before you even get started with RPE, make sure you have other practical control measures in place first; such as local exhaust ventilation or direct dust-extracted tools with a vacuum catchment to get rid of the majority of contaminants in the air. You should also be keeping an eye on your team\u2019s health and workplace conditions to ensure that, over time, they aren\u2019tbecomign unwell or getting injured by their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember, there is no such thing as healthy dust, even if you are outside!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve gone ahead and put together a quick guide of factors to consider when providing your workers with RPE.<\/span><\/p>\n

Types of RPE<\/span><\/h2>\n

RPE should be the last resort to protect against harmful dust. Before work starts, look at ways of stopping or reducing the amount of dust you might make. Even if you stop some dust this way, you may do other work that could still produce high dust levels. In these cases the most important action is to stop the dust getting into the air with either water or extraction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Water or on-tool extraction may not always be appropriate or they might not reduce exposure enough. Often respiratory protection (RPE) has to be provided as well. You will need to make sure that the RPE is:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

adequate for the amount and type of dust \u2013 RPE has an assigned protection factor (APF) which shows how much protection it gives the wearer. The general level for construction dust is an APF of 20. This means the wearer only breathes one twentieth of the amount of dust in the air;<\/span><\/p>\n