Developing a comprehensive respiratory protection program for Allegheny County Health Department

This essay details how a comprehensive respiratory protection program can be developed for a local health department. Possibly due to a lack of federal requirements, many health departments do not have a respiratory protection program or, if they do, they are based on the federal standard for general industry and construction. This represents a public health concern because health departments are unique environments that have different needs for their respiratory protection programs than general industry, construction, or even the medical care industry for both regular and emergency health department operations. The unusual blend of environmental, occupational, and biological respiratory hazards that local health departments face create a unique situation that calls for a specifically formatted respiratory protection program that includes a written program, training materials, and evaluation materials. This essay demonstrates how one such comprehensive program was created for Allegheny County Health Department to prepare their employees to use proper respiratory protection during their daily and emergency operations and services