When can respiratory protective equipment (RPE) be used?

When you might still breathe in contaminated air, despite other controls you have in place e.g. extraction systems
When there is short-term or infrequent exposure and using other controls is impractical
Whilst you are putting other controls in place
When you need to provide RPE for safe exit in an emergency
When you need to provide RPE for emergency work or when there is a temporary failure of controls
When emergency rescue by trained personnel is necessary

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