Part 410 min

4.3 Cleaning, inspection, repair and storage

A respirator spends most of its life not being worn, and what happens to it in that time decides whether it works when it is. Paragraph (h) covers cleaning, storage, inspection, repair and discarding — five duties that between them explain why the respirator hanging on a nail in the shop is not protecting anybody.

1 Cleaning and disinfecting

Paragraph (h)(1) opens with the standard: the employer shall provide each respirator user with a respirator that is clean, sanitary, and in good working order, cleaned and disinfected using the procedures in Appendix B-2 or manufacturer procedures of equivalent effectiveness. Then it sets four intervals.

Cleaning intervals — 29 CFR 1910.134(h)(1)
¶	Respirator	Cleaned and disinfected
(h)(1)(i)	Issued for the exclusive use of one employee	As often as necessary to be maintained in a sanitary condition
(h)(1)(ii)	Issued to more than one employee	Before being worn by different individuals
(h)(1)(iii)	Maintained for emergency use	After each use
(h)(1)(iv)	Used in fit testing and training	After each use

The second row is the one that turns shared respirators into an administrative burden, and it is why issuing personal respirators is usually cheaper in practice than sharing a shop set. It is also the row that gets ignored, with a wipe substituted for cleaning and disinfecting.

On the job: a personally issued respirator in a named, sealed bag solves cleaning, storage and the fit-record problem at once — the make, model, style and size on that worker's fit test record is the one in their bag.

2 Storage

Paragraph (h)(2)(i): all respirators shall be stored to protect them from damage, contamination, dust, sunlight, extreme temperatures, excessive moisture, and damaging chemicals, and shall be packed or stored to prevent deformation of the facepiece and exhalation valve.

Every item in that list rules out the default arrangement, which is a respirator hanging on a nail or lying in a gang box. Hanging by the straps stretches them and distorts the facepiece; lying in a box crushes the exhalation valve; shop air contaminates the cartridge; sunlight and heat degrade the elastomer.

The cartridge point deserves emphasis because it is invisible. An attached, opened cartridge continues adsorbing whatever is in the shop atmosphere, twenty-four hours a day. A change schedule calculated on hours of use is silently wrong for a respirator stored that way — which links storage directly back to (d)(3)(iii).

Paragraph (h)(2)(ii) adds the rules for emergency respirators: they shall be kept accessible to the work area, stored in compartments or covers clearly marked as containing emergency respirators, and stored in accordance with any applicable manufacturer instructions.

3 Inspection

Paragraph (h)(3)(i) sets three inspection regimes by use:

(A) All respirators used in routine situations shall be inspected before each use and during cleaning. (B) All respirators maintained for use in emergency situations shall be inspected at least monthly and in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, and shall be checked for proper function before and after each use. (C) Emergency escape-only respirators shall be inspected before being carried into the workplace for use.

Paragraph (h)(3)(ii) says what an inspection covers: (A) a check of respirator function, tightness of connections, and the condition of the various parts including but not limited to the facepiece, head straps, valves, connecting tube, and cartridges, canisters or filters; and (B) a check of elastomeric parts for pliability and signs of deterioration.

Self-contained breathing apparatus gets more. Paragraph (h)(3)(iii): SCBA shall be inspected monthly; air and oxygen cylinders shall be maintained in a fully charged state and recharged when the pressure falls to 90% of the manufacturer's recommended pressure level; and the employer shall determine that the regulator and warning devices function properly.

4 Certifying emergency respirators

Paragraph (h)(3)(iv) is the paperwork that turns a monthly inspection into evidence. For respirators maintained for emergency use, the employer shall:

(A) Certify the respirator by documenting the date the inspection was performed, the name (or signature) of the person who made the inspection, the findings, required remedial action, and a serial number or other means of identifying the inspected respirator; and (B) provide this information on a tag or label attached to the storage compartment for the respirator, kept with the respirator, or included in inspection reports stored as paper or electronic files. This information shall be maintained until replaced following a subsequent certification.

Five items, and the last one — a serial number or other identifier — is what makes the record belong to a specific device rather than to a cupboard.

Common mistake: a monthly SCBA check logged in a book with a tick. (h)(3)(iv)(A) asks for the findings and the required remedial action, not a tick — and (h)(3)(iii) asks for a pressure judgment against 90% of the manufacturer's recommended level, which means writing the pressure down.

5 Repairs and discarding

Paragraph (h)(4): respirators that fail an inspection or are otherwise found to be defective shall be removed from service, and discarded or repaired or adjusted in accordance with three rules.

1
(h)(4)(i) — repairs or adjustments are made only by persons appropriately trained to perform such operations, and shall use only the respirator manufacturer's NIOSH-approved parts designed for that respirator.
2
(h)(4)(ii) — repairs shall be made according to the manufacturer's recommendations and specifications for the type and extent of repairs to be performed.
3
(h)(4)(iii) — reducing and admission valves, regulators, and alarms shall be adjusted or repaired only by the manufacturer or a technician trained by the manufacturer.

Rule (i) is the one that catches everyday improvisation. A generic strap or a valve from another brand takes the assembly outside its NIOSH approval, which puts it straight into conflict with (d)(1)(ii) — the respirator shall be used in compliance with the conditions of its certification. Rule (iii) puts SCBA regulators firmly beyond in-house maintenance.

6 A maintenance routine that fits a real site

1
Issue personally. One respirator, one worker, one named bag. It resolves (h)(1)(ii) sharing, most of (h)(2)(i) storage, and keeps the fit record meaningful.
2
Detach cartridges at end of shift and reseal them, or record the exposure time honestly in the change schedule.
3
Inspect at donning, using (h)(3)(ii)'s own list — function, connections, facepiece, straps, valves, tube, elements, and elastomer pliability.
4
Clean per Appendix B-2 on the schedule the four intervals in (h)(1) actually require for your situation.
5
Put emergency respirators on a monthly calendar with a certification record carrying the five items of (h)(3)(iv)(A).
6
Keep manufacturer parts only, and send regulators out.

Key takeaways

Shared respirators are cleaned and disinfected before being worn by a different person; emergency and fit-test respirators after each use.
Storage must protect from damage, contamination, dust, sunlight, extreme temperatures, moisture and chemicals, without deforming the facepiece or exhalation valve.
An attached cartridge keeps adsorbing shop air in storage, which quietly invalidates a use-based change schedule.
Routine respirators are inspected before each use and during cleaning; emergency respirators at least monthly and before and after each use.
SCBA is inspected monthly and recharged when pressure falls to 90% of the manufacturer's recommended level.
Repairs use only the manufacturer's NIOSH-approved parts; regulators and alarms go back to the manufacturer or a trained technician.

Free educational content — not OSHA-authorized training, no certificate or card issued. Follow your employer's program and the standards cited.