SWP - Respirator Fit Testing

Testing whether a specific tight-fitting respirator (SCBA facepiece, full-facepiece or half-facepiece air-purifying respirator, tight-fitting PAPR, N95 filtering facepiece) seals on a specific member’s face. It applies before first use of any make, model and size; every 12 months after that (the annual interval of NFPA 1550 (NFPA 1550, 2024, s. 9.14), inside the two-year maximum of CSA Z94.4 (CSA Z94.4-18, cl. 9); some jurisdictions require exactly that by regulation, and others set a longer maximum: J14 Respiratory Protection, Fit Testing and Breathing Air); and after any change that could affect fit: a different make, model or size; a significant weight change; dental work or facial surgery; new scarring; a change in interfacing PPE (helmet, hood, eyewear insert); discomfort or a failed seal check reported by the member; or a tester’s or supervisor’s observation that the fit may have changed.

• A respirator that passes the test but leaks in use because the test was done without the hood, helmet and eyewear worn at work, or on a different size than the one issued.
• A member cleared on paper who has a medical condition that makes respirator work unsafe.
• Facial hair, jewellery, cosmetics or dentures that affect the seal.
• Test agent exposure (qualitative) in a poorly ventilated room; instrument mis-reading (quantitative) from a failed daily check or a leaking adapter.
• A failed test handled badly: the member sent back to the line without a sealing facepiece, or shamed for failing.

Quantitative fit test instrument (ambient aerosol condensation nuclei counter or controlled negative pressure type) with the day’s successful check recorded, or the qualitative kit (hood, nebulizers, sensitivity and test solutions of saccharin or Bitrex, in date); facepiece test adapters and probed facepieces or sampling adapters for each model; the member’s helmet, hood, eyewear insert and radio strap; a range of facepiece sizes and models; mirror; timer; Form - Fit Test Record; the fit-test register; the clearance status list.

Who may test. A fit tester who has completed a fit-testing course covering the method in use, has been observed by the program administrator doing a complete test, and has a competency record on file, refreshed every three years or on a change of instrument. No Canadian OHS legislation requires a specific formal training or certification for fit testers (CCOHS, n.d.-b); the department’s competency record is the evidence. The tester may be an in-house member or a contractor; either way the record fields are the same. One tester per session; a second person for a session of more than 10 members is good practice.

Who may be tested. A member with a current medical clearance outcome of fit, or fit with a restriction that still allows this respirator, confirmed on the clearance status list before the test starts. Recruit respiratory training (or the filtering facepiece module for N95) needs to be complete so the member can don, seal check and adjust the respirator without the tester’s hands.

1. Confirm the instrument’s daily check or the qualitative solutions’ dates. Record them. If the daily check fails, the session does not run on that instrument.
2. Confirm each member on the list has a current medical clearance outcome and current training. A member without either is rescheduled, not tested.
3. Lay out every model and size the department issues of the respirator type being tested.

4. Check the face: clean-shaven in the seal area (hair at the seal is a stop; the test does not proceed and the member cannot enter IDLH until it does); no jewellery, cosmetics or hair products at the seal; dentures in if normally worn; scars noted.
5. Ask the member about recent changes: weight, dental work, surgery, discomfort with the current facepiece. Record them.
6. Let the member choose the most comfortable size by trying two or three, with the tester’s guidance. Comfort is a selection factor; a facepiece that passes but hurts will be loosened in use.
7. The member dons the respirator unaided, performs the negative and positive-pressure seal checks, and wears it for at least five minutes before the test to settle.
8. Add the interfacing PPE: hood, helmet with chin strap, eyewear insert if used, radio strap. The test is done with the PPE the member wears at work.
9. Qualitative (half-facepiece APR and N95 only; valid only to an assigned protection factor of 10): sensitivity screen with the weak solution under the hood; then the test solution while the member performs the exercise set (normal breathing, deep breathing, head side to side, head up and down, talking aloud, bending or jogging in place, normal breathing; grimace where the protocol includes it). Any taste or smell is a fail.
10. Quantitative (required for SCBA, full-facepiece APR and tight-fitting PAPR; acceptable for all): connect the probe or adapter; run the protocol exercise set per the instrument and CSA Z94.4-18; record the fit factor for each exercise and the overall fit factor. Pass criterion: overall fit factor of at least 100 for a half-facepiece, at least 500 for a full-facepiece or SCBA facepiece (CSA Z94.4-18, Annex J). Some instruments and protocols set a higher pass level for SCBA; the department uses the higher of the standard and the instrument manufacturer’s value.
11. Pass: record on Form - Fit Test Record, enter the register with the next due date 12 months out, mark the facepiece with the member’s identifier if it is personal issue, and tell the member their size and model.
12. Fail: adjust the straps, re-seat the facepiece and try once more. If it fails again, try the next size, then the other model. Record every attempt and its cause (strap, size, bridge of nose, chin, hair, scar). A member who fails every available model and size is not issued a tight-fitting respirator; the tester tells the program administrator the same day, the administrator tells the member’s officer the restriction (no IDLH entry), and the member is offered a loose-fitting PAPR for non-IDLH tasks and referred to the occupational health provider if a facial feature or condition is the cause. Nobody is sent back to the line as a passed wearer on a facepiece that did not pass.
13. Clean and disinfect the test facepieces and adapters between members per the manufacturer.

14. Update the register and the station currency boards. Send the program administrator the list of passes, fails, restrictions and re-tests due.
15. Report any pattern (a size nobody passes, a model with repeated bridge leaks, an instrument drifting) to the Respiratory Protection team as a program finding.

Form - Fit Test Record per member per make, model and size, with the fields used in Canadian regulator guidance (WorkplaceNL, 2023); the fit-test register (member, respirator, result, date, next due, restriction); tester competency records; instrument daily checks and calibration certificates; qualitative solution lot numbers and dates; the list of members restricted from IDLH entry sent to their officers; retention for the member’s length of service and any longer period your jurisdiction’s rule or 05 Document Control and Records sets (J09 Records Retention). The register feeds the fit-test currency indicator in the program’s progress update; the test itself is annual.

Testers: course, observed test, three-year refresher. Members: fit-test session annually; the procedure’s seal-check content in recruit training and the annual proficiency evaluation. The Respiratory Protection team reviews this procedure annually, when the facepiece model, instrument or CSA Z94.4 (CSA Z94.4-18) edition changes, and whenever the fail pattern suggests the test is not reflecting use.

Respiratory Protection Program (section 5.6 and toolkit T4); Policy - Respiratory Protection; Form - Fit Test Record; Form - Respirator Medical Clearance Request; Medical, Fitness and Wellness Program; 04 Annual Program Cycle and Calendar.

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety [CCOHS]. (n.d.-b). Respirator fit testing (OSH Answers). https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/ppe/respirator-respirator-fit-testing.html