Respiratory Selection

Employers must select and provide appropriate respirators to employees and conduct fit testing using procedures mandated by section 5144, Appendix A. Employers should provide:

• Any organic vapor gas mask or any self-contained breathing apparatus with a full facepiece to use for escape
• Organic vapor cartridges or canisters for use with powered and non-powered air-purifying respirators
• Chin-style canisters for use with full facepiece gas masks

Employers should ensure that canisters used with non-powered air purifying respirators have a minimum service life of four hours when tested at 150 ppm benzene, at a flow rate of 64 liters per minute, at 25° Centigrade and 85 percent relative humidity. Employers should ensure that canisters used with tight-fitting and loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirators have a minimum service life of four hours when tested at an airborne concentration of 150 ppm of benzene at a flow rate of both 115 liters per minute and 170 liters per minute.

Any employee who cannot wear a negative pressure respirator should be given the option of wearing a respirator with less breathing resistance.

To learn more about Benzene Safety visit our Cal/OSHA Benzene Safety Online Training web page.