Respirator Compliance

[David Rosenberg]

#108556

Forum: Private

Hello. I have an employee in Ontario who wants to wear a respirator (either N95 or negative pressure) to perform a job where respiratory protection is NOT required. The employee want’s to wear the respirator to block the odour that comes from the machine when it processes a metal part. The employee has facial hair that prevents the respirator from creating a proper seal.

Would a Ministry of Labour inspector penalize us, the employer, for allowing the employee (with facial hair) to use a respirator (for the purpose of blocking odour) even though respiratory protection is not required and the employee is electing themselves to wear the respirator?

Let me know if further clarificaiton is required. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[Glenn Demby]

#108575

Great question and an interesting situation. There’s no specific authority or guidance on this but I think I can speak to the general OHS principles involved and my own opinion, which should not be confused for actual legal counsel which I can’t provide you.

First, the fact that the respirator isn’t required by the OHS regulations is going to afford you only limited liability protection. There may be circumstances where use of a respirator is advisable even if it’s not expressly required by OHS laws. A perfect example would be where the use is required by a CSA or other nongovt standard. And don’t forget the “general duty clause” requiring employers to take reasonable measures and safeguards to protect workers from recognized or recognizable risk.

In addition, what the OHS laws DO say is that an employer must ensure that the PPE workers use is adequate to protect them from the hazards the equipment is meant to protect them from. A tight-fitting respirator worn by a person with facial hair is probably not adequate. As a result, letting the worker use it entails liability risk.

All of this is theory and speculation. But it could go from abstract to real in a heartbeat if the worker using the inadequate respirator or any other worker in your workplace suffers an actual respiratory injury or illness, in which case MOL investigators may show up and take a hard look at your respiratory protection plan and PPE. And if they detect that you let one of your workers use an inadequate respirator, it won’t help your case.

Bottom Line: I’d be nervous about allowing a worker to use improper PPE even if the actual PPE use isn’t expressly required by OHS regs. I’d be happy to talk more about this with you off-line. glennd@bongarde.com Hope this helps: Glenn Demby, OHS Insider, Editor In Chief

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