Ladies and Gentlemen, Harry is so right! Listen to him! Jay Young ************************************************************************* On Tue, 3 Oct 2006 12:29:58 -0500 "Harry J. Elston"writes: > > > > > >But requiring gloves and N-95's > >isn't out of the question necessarily and could be an important > >lesson on > >real world management of risk. > > With respect to respirators, this is a darn stupid idea. There > should NEVER be a cause to use a respirator in exposure control in > an academic, secondary school environment. Period. > > Using a respirator is more than slapping on a facepiece, sucking in > to see if you have a seal and calling it good. Yes, an "N-95" is a > RESPIRATOR and if you're requiring their use, you're buying into a > full-meal-deal program that includes, but is not limited to.... > > 1. A complete risk assessment to ensure there are no other viable > alternatives such as engineering controls and adminsitrative > controls (including chemical substitution) that will provide the > necessary exposure control. > > 2. A complete respiratory protection program, written, reviewed > annually, blah, blah, blah. > > 3. Medical evaluation as required by the Respiratory Protection > Standard. > > 4. Fit testing to the level required by the Respiratory Protection > Standard and the local respiratory protection program. > > 5. Training as required > > 6. Maintennace as required > > And the list goes on. > > Now, how many secondary school teachers are qualified to do that? > My bet that it exponentially approaches ZERO. > > As a parent, chemist and safety professional, I would have a real > field day if ANY teacher of my kid required the use of a respirator > in their class; the first question being, "Just what the hell are > you using that requires the use?" and then moving on from there, > including the entire school administration hearing about it. > > While it may be true that "any chemical can be handled safely" the > bottom line is that some should be restricted from use until these > skulls-full-o-mush get some EXPERIENCE in handling the not-so-bad > chemicals. Let them handle the cyanides in 300/400/500 level > college classes, not in high school. You can teach a whole lot of > chemistry with some low-risk/low-hazard chemicals and their > dilutions. > > Harry "taking a cleansing breath" Elston > > > > Harry J. Elston, Ph.D., CIH > Principal > Midwest Chemical Safety > www.midwestchemsafety.com > > Editor, Chemical Health & Safety > http://membership.acs.org/c/chas/ > > "I'm your wife. I'm the greatest good > you're ever gonna get" > -Mrs. "Frozone", The Incredibles > >
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