Employers must ensure that employees are allowed to leave the respirator use area in several circumstances. The intent of this requirement is to ensure that employees leave the area where respiratory protection is necessary when they need to remove the respirator or where it appears that the respirator is not functioning properly. In these circumstances, the standard requires employees to leave the “respirator use” area. This does not, however, always equate with the work area or workplace. This is intended to give employers the flexibility to establish safe areas in their workplaces that will minimize interruptions in work flow and production while ensuring that the area where respirators are removed is free of respiratory hazards or contamination.
