Are you having trouble with maintaining industrial gear, especially equipment like respirators?
It’s critical to acknowledge the advantages of safety meant specifically for ensuring your overall well-being. If you want to get the most out of your mask, have it last longer, and function properly, you must take care of it regularly.
Take a step back and make sure the industrial supplies you’re wearing or using are in good working order before you start cleaning them. Here’s how to look after your complete or partial face respirators properly.
Cleaning
Your respirator is often the only barrier between you and hazardous specks of dust, gases, vapours, or fumes.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget the importance of wearing a respirator when the dangers aren’t apparent to the human eye. If you don’t look after your respirators, they could become useless when they are most needed.
As a result, many security and operational managers find it helpful to post warnings and reminders across their facilities informing employees to properly clean, maintain, and store respirators.
Always follow the manufacturer’s directions while examining, cleaning, and servicing your breathing masks.
Inspection
If your respirator is cracked or otherwise damaged, cleaning it is pointless. Before each use, inspect your respirator to ensure it is in good working order.
Examine the front side of the mask for fractures, tears, or dirt, paying particular attention to the facial seal. Look for wear, tear, or damage on the inhaling and ventilation valves, straps, gaskets, and seals.
Finally, look through your respirator’s lenses for anything that can impede your sight or efficiency. That will need to be updated if there are signs of fault or damage.
Here are some suggestions for cleaning your breathing masks and related components successfully.
Steps
- Filters, cartridges, and canisters should all be removed. Diaphragms, valve assemblies, hoses, and other components are disassembled.
- Use a gentle cleanser or cleaning manufacturer’s recommended to wash the components in warm water. A non-wire brush with stiff bristles has to be utilised.
- Using clean, warm running water, rinse the components.
- If the cleaner does not contain a disinfectant, immerse the respirator components in manufacturer-approved solutions. Avoid using solvents or alcohol wipes.
- Rinse the components well in pure, warm running water once more.
- Allow components to air dry or dry by hand with a clean, lint-free cloth.
- Replace the filters, cartridges, and canisters in the facepiece.
- Examine the respirator for proper operation.
Final Maintenance
Don’t put your industrial supplies in a toolbox, locker, or your truck’s cab. Safe Work Australia, a statutory government agency, has regulations for properly securing or storing industrial gear and equipment.
After each use, correctly storing your respirator is crucial for preserving your equipment. Keep your respirator somewhere cool and dry because sunshine, heat, cold, smoke, or chemicals can harm it and render it ineffective.
Remove the cylinder from your mask and store it in a zipper-locked plastic bag to avoid contamination.
It is not possible to clean the cartridges or the filter. Masks will easily be recycled or discarded entirely, depending on their state. Keep a change-out schedule on hand to track when each cartridge has to be replaced.
The Takeaway
Industrial supplies such as respirators are built expressly for the work you perform. You must work better and more productively regardless of what line of industrial work you’re in. So it is essential to be careful when acquiring, cleaning, or maintaining your respirators.