Here are NIOSH’s top 5 reasons to tune into N95 Day this year:
1. Using social media for respiratory protection resources – it’s like a breath of fresh air
If you’re all about respiratory protection, then it’s all about #N95Day on September 6th. Every year NIOSH gears up for this social media party in which respiratory protection program managers and users of N95 level filtering respirators have made the VIP list. Look for information on Twitter (@NIOSH, @NPPTL, #N95Day) Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest as well as the annual N95 Day NIOSH Science Blog article. NIOSH will test your N95 knowledge with trivia questions, pictures, and links to important resources.
2. NIOSH is launching its new home for hospital respiratory protection program resources
Establishing an effective hospital respiratory protection program can be a particularly complex mountain to climb. NIOSH wants to help make this easier for the administrators of these programs. A new webpage on the NPPTL site is specifically dedicated to organizing all NIOSH information on this topic. The new page will be broken into categories of a hospital respiratory protection program, as established in last year’s OSHA/NIOSH publication - Hospital Respiratory Protection Program Toolkit: Resources for Respiratory Protection Program Administrators. This resource is available at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2015-117/(http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2015-117/default.html)
3. NIOSH has scheduled a special webinar (for webinar summary, speaker bios, and registration, click the link below):
September 6, 2016, 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time(8:00AM PST, 9:00AM MST, 10:00AM CST)
4. The power of partnership
NIOSH’s partners have always been supportive of N95 Day, using their social media channels, newsletters, listservs, and word of mouth to spread word about the importance of understanding the proper use of respiratory protection and having the right resources to get you there. The goal is to protect hardworking men and women who rely upon respiratory protection, such as N95 filtering facepiece respirators, to keep them safe with every single use. Below is the beginning of the list of pledged N95 Day partners to date:
• 3M
• American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
• American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN)
• Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP)
• Cocciardi and Associates
• Deep South Center for Occupational Health & Safety
• Dräger, Inc
• Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care Systems
• International Safety Equipment Association
• Jeff Lee Safety Services
• Makrite Industries
• Miller Electric
• New York New Jersey Education and Research Center
• PA Department of Labor & Industry, Bureau of Workers' Compensation
• PA Safety Conference
• Pittsburgh Local Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association
• SAS Safety
• Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)
• TSI
• Venus Safety
N95 Day is a national event. Proclamations have officially started rolling in, with the following city and states recognizing the observance (and the list will keep growing)
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Vermont
• West Virginia
5. A dedicated time to focus on respiratory protection
If N95s are part of your workplace respiratory protection program, take some time on September 6 to focus on your safety and get to know NIOSH and the resources it provides. Confidence and familiarity with proper respirator practices is important for employers, respiratory protection program managers, and safety managers in all industries who rely on N95 respiratory protection to help keep workers safe. The education to build this familiarity must happen before the time comes when a respirator is needed. Especially make sure to check out this year’s new, handy-dandy infographics, which will be posted on the NIOSH Instagram page.
Source: NIOSH
