Fit for life

摘要

Education, alongside product development, is critical for both wearers and fit-testers in order to reduce occupational disease and death from airborne respiratory hazards. Employers need a better understanding of the hazards they face, how to select RPE, why it is being worn, and why they should use a proper fit-tester, while testers must understand how to do their job effectively and safely. Workers need to have a clear understanding of how and when to wear it, and how to look after it.rnAnother major issue for workers is wearability, in that the RPE should be as comfortable as possible, must perform in the way it is supposed to, and must be capable of fitting a widernvariety of head sizes. Work is in progress by the likes of IOSH, the HSE, the Institute of Occupational Medicine and the BSIF to look into ways of making RPE more acceptable to users and therefore more likely to be worn. The aim is to devise a programme to improve the education of wearers on the types of RPE, and when and how to wear it.