Respiratory Protection Week, September 3-6, 2024 | NPPTL | NIOSH | CDC

During this week-long observance, we highlighted the importance of respiratory protection in the workplace and provided resources to help you make educated decisions when selecting and wearing a respirator. If you are exposed to respiratory hazards at work, it’s best to apply the hierarchy of controls. The use of respiratory protection is an important “last line of defense” in the hierarchy of controls approach.

Millions of workers across the United States rely on respiratory protection to keep them safe on the job. This includes workers in occupations such as healthcare, construction, public safety, emergency response, and mining.

Below are links to our more recent resources that support NIOSH’s strategic direction for respiratory protection.

Respiratory Protection Week is over for another year. Until our next observance, you can sign up for the NIOSH NPPTL Listserv to receive updates on new products and announcements.

Tips for Managing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Your Stockpile: Respirator Selection and PurchaseTo close out Respiratory Protection Week, a new blog highlights respirator selection and purchasing, and answers two common questions: How do I know if my respirators are approved by NIOSH? And What respirators make the most sense for my stockpiling needs? Read more on the NIOSH Science Blog. This blog will kick off a new series on stockpiling PPE. So stay tuned for more to come!

Safety and Health Considerations for Junior FirefightersAs firefighting remains one of the most dangerous occupations, junior firefighters are exposed to hazards that increase the risk of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. The fire service helps to address recruitment and retention needs by bringing in younger members through a junior firefighter program.

Protecting Chimney Sweeps from Respiratory Hazards: Respirator UseRespiratory protection can be used to reduce sweeps exposure to airborne hazards. Knowing which type of respirator is right for the job at hand, and how to properly use it, is crucial to protecting sweeps.

Translated Infographics

This year we’ve translated some of our most popular infographics to help bridge language barriers in the workplace. View our entire suite of infographics here.

ArabicChineseSpanishTagalogVietnamese

ArabicChineseSpanishTagalogVietnamese

ArabicChineseSpanishTagalogVietnamese

ArabicChineseSpanishTagalogVietnamese

Equitable PPE Protections WorkshopA National Strategy for Equitable PPE Protections for All U.S. WorkersLearn about challenges, issues and concerns for PPE developers and end users related to respirator fit capabilities and serving a diverse workforce.

Live Webinar EventNIOSH Healthcare Personal Protective Technology Targets for 2020 to 2030On September 4th 11am ET, NIOSH hosted a webinar to review the targets and present accomplishments. Registration is now closed but view the Targets document for more information.

Respiratory protection has always been a key component of personal protective equipment to keep individuals safe from workplace airborne hazards, but over the last few years more people have become aware of just how  important. This year marks our fifth Respiratory Protection Week, but our virtual shout-out for respiratory protection goes back to 2012 when we began observing N95 Day. N95 Day highlighted best practices and resources specific to the most commonly used filtering facepiece respirator, the N95. We continued with the N95 focus for seven years until we expanded our campaign in 2019 to be inclusive of all types of respiratory protection.

Each year we continue respirator research to address knowledge gaps and use this observance week to share our findings and educational tools to promote proper respiratory protection practices.

Whether you are a newcomer to Respiratory Protection Week or have been with us since the N95 Days, you can check out the resources available from our previous years’ observance kick-off blogs.

Respiratory Protection Week

2023: Respiratory Protection Week 2023: Filling in the Gaps

2022: Respiratory Protection Week 2022: Staying Committed to Proper Respiratory Protection Practices

2021: Respiratory Protection Week 2021 Resources and Review

2020: Supplementing the Supply of N95s with Reusable Elastomeric Half Mask Respirators

2019: NIOSH Launches Respiratory Protection Week in Celebration of 100 Years of Respiratory Protection

N95 Day

2018: Getting Down to the Particulars about Filter Class

2017: When to think Beyond the N95 FFR

2016: Proper Use, Filtration, and Fit – The Three-Legged Stool of Respiratory Protection

2015: The tools to build a culture of proper respiratory protection practices

2014: Respirator Preparedness – Where Technology Meets Good Practices

2013: A Guide to N95 Resources

2012: Happy N95 Day! (aka, What is N95 Day?)

How can you participate in Respiratory Protection Week? We highly encourage hosting activities within your own organizations, whether that be training sessions with your staff, educational messages pertaining to your specific workplace hazards, or just fun pictures on social media of your staff showing off their proper respiratory protection practices (and general love of a safe workplace environment!).

Like every year, we will be active on our social media platforms promoting information and new resources. We encourage you to join the conversation. Follow our observance hashtag (#RespiratorWeek) to stay up to date on the latest information. Interacting with our posts helps spread the information far and wide.

If you are going to participate, why not show it off? Download these graphics to display on your organization’s website or your own personal social media accounts.

Download graphic: Small, Large

Download graphic: Small, Large

Download graphic: Small, Large