From: ACTSNYC**At_Symbol_Here**cs.com Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Hold on a minute, Dr. E. Date: October 5, 2006 4:29:36 PM EDT >I believe this discussion is about use of respirators and the like in secondary school activities. There, OSHA regulations have little presence and the driving force is doing it right to protect the students, avoid litigation, and perhaps even teach them something about good practice. If you mean by "good practice" letting high school students put on masks without knowing about and following the rules that apply in the adult world, then I take issue. And with the large number of asthmatics in schools today, and undiagnosed heart problems in occasional students, medical certification is a must. The worst thing about this idea is schools that do this are adding their students to the numbers of uneducated members of the public who will go to the hardware store for a mask when they are doing some hazarous household or hobby task. They'll buy a mask for the wrong contaminant, that doesn't fit properly, and wear it past expiration while thinking they are protected. Or worse yet, the students will graduate and get a job with some unscrupulous employer who hands them the wrong mask without proper fit testing and training and they'll be too uneducated to know that their rights have just been trampled on. I deal with dozens of people who are injured by this practice every year. They are always amazed to learn that they are supposed to be fit tested, certified and trained to wear them properly. They should have learned this in high school along with basic hazard communication, and the lot. Monona Rossol
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