Because the official protocol required to perform a legally-valid qualitative (i.e., Saccharine or irritant-smoke) fit test is time-consuming and labor-intensive many practitioners omit required steps in order to simply get through the process.
We make it very easy for the customer to contact AccuTec. We employ a toll-free number (800-896-6959) which goes to a technically competent person, a dynamically monitored “inbox” for email, and text capabilities.
We have seen numerous examples of respirators that do not fit the subject when they are fit-tested the following year. Primarily these are the N95-type filtering facepieces, but we have also observed the phenomenon with elastomeric respirators.
The next time one of your co-workers complains about the respirator fit test he or she is scheduled to undergo, show them the YouTube video below, which shows how fit testing was performed in the late 1930’s.
