Fit Testing

If you have employees that wear Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) then having the correct type and correct fitting equipment is crucial to maintaining the health of your employees.  Unless your respirators are powered or have their own air supply the they will only be effective if the mask creates a tight seal against the your face.   Fit Testing verifies that the selected equipment actually fits the user’s face. Having an appropriate fit test completed for your workers who wear respirators at work is a necessary obligation of employers as detailed in:

AS/NZS1715:2009 Selection, Use and Maintenance of Respiratory Protection Equipment –  Section 2.6, states it is a mandatory requirement that respirator fit testing be performed for each person who may be required to wear a tight fitting respirator.
The AS/NZS 1715 – Standard states an individual shall be fit tested prior to initial use, whenever there is a change in your facial characteristics or other features which may affect the facial seal of the respirator and should be repeated annually thereafter

The quantitative method is the preferred and most accurate method of respirator fit testing.  Quantitative fit testing utilises a highly sophisticated piece of equipment which (to summarise) counts the number of ambient particles in the air (ie. the room) and via a connected tube counts the number of particles that manage to get through the respirator.   As a result of these two measurements an algorithm determines if the series of test results is over a certain benchmark for the particular mask being tested, which in turn derives if the respirator is a good or bad fit.  A good fit ensures the worker will get maximum protection from the respirator.

StaffCare’s fit testing is conducted using a state-of-the-art PortaCount Pro+ machine. No other respirator fit tester can quantitatively fit test all types of respirators-gas masks, SCBAs, respirators, even N95, P1 and P2 disposable (filtering-facepiece) respirators. The PortaCount® Pro+ Respirator Fit Tester 8048 eliminates the guesswork associated with tedious and error-prone qualitative fit test methods.   The 8048 can even take measurements real time to determine if adjusting a respirator provides a better fit to help educate the wearer.

Each appointment for a quantitative fit test takes about half an hour and this includes educating the user on how to use, store, clean and inspect the respirator.

Our Fit testers are certified as competent pursuant to NZOHS training programs or training towards those qualifcations under supervision of a Comm2fit qualified tester.

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We are able to test:

• Half-mask respirator
• Full-face respirator
• Disposable filtering-facepiece fit testing for Series 100/99/95/P1/P2/P3 masks (All Brands)
• SCBA respirator
• Gas mask respirator

*Essentially any respirator that requires a good seal to work effectively. Let us know the brand of respirator you use - we have testing adapters for most brands but best to confirm when making a booking. We are able to purchase attachments for alternate brands if there is a demand.

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