A survey of respirators usage for airborne chemicals in Korea

A questionnaire survey was undertaken to identify the current status of respirator usage in manufacturing work environments subject to gas/vapor chemicals exposure in Korea and to suggest improvements to enhance the effectiveness of respirator usage. The number of target companies included 17 big companies, 110 small & mid-size companies, and 5 foreign companies, and the number of respondents included 601 workers and 69 persons in charge of respirators (PCR). The results explained clearly that respirator programs in practice were extremely poor in small & mid-sized companies. The findings indicated that the selection of respirators was not appropriate. Quarter mask including filtering facepiece was the most common facepiece form for respirator and was worn by sixty-four percent. Not a little proportion of respondents (33%) complained about the fit: faceseal leakage between the face and facepiece. A filtering facepiece with carbon fiber filter was used as a substitution for a gas/vapor respirator. Another result was that the PCR respondents' perception of the administration of respirators was very low. The results of this survey suggest that regal enforcement of respiratory protection programs should be established in Korea. On the basis of these findings, respiratory protection programs should include respirator selection, maintenance, training, and fit testing.