If employees don’t wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) correctly, it can put them and those around them at risk. To help with this issue and keep workers safe, Allegro provides Fit Test Kits that allow companies to test their employees’ PPE.

What Is a Fit Test Kit?

Fit test kits assess whether a mask fits an employee properly. OSHA and other organizations usually require them to ensure that employees have face masks that adequately protect them from airborne hazards.

Allegro’s Bitter Fit Test Kit contains denatonium benzoate, a highly bitter chemical compound used in taste tests. When an employee wears a properly fitted mask, they will not be able to taste the bitterness of denatonium benzoate. If they taste it, the cover does not work correctly, and the employee needs a different face mask or a new size.

Allegro’s Smoke Fit Test Kit contains stannic chloride, a white colorless gas that has a pungent odor that fumes strongly in moist air forming white hydrochloric acid fumes. This tin compound’s strong odor will provoke involuntary reactions, such as coughing, by the test subject when the respirator is not forming a proper seal around their face. If this occurs, the employee needs a different mask or a new size.

Allegro’s Sweet Fit Test Kit includes saccharin sodium salt tablets like those found in artificial sweeteners like Sweet & Low. Employees who use PPE properly will not taste the sweetness of saccharin sodium salt tablets. If you taste it, your respirator does not fit properly, or you are not using it correctly.

All three of Allegro’s fit test kits provide a simple way to ensure that your facial coverings work as intended and keep you safe at work.

High-Quality Fit Test Products

As a result of COVID-19, there is a much greater need for fit testing, especially in medical facilities. These fit test kits will help meet this need by enabling healthcare providers to conduct tests quickly and efficiently. Allegro provides the highest quality fit testing products available on the market. Our Fit Test Kits are fast and easy to use and will help ensure that all of the employees in your facility are wearing the right PPE for their specific needs.

Contact us today and ensure that every one of your workers uses the right equipment for protection!

The Effect of COVID-19 on Safety Products

During the first two months of the pandemic, hospitals in numerous states became overwhelmed with cases of critically ill COVID-19 patients. There was a huge surge in demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), but supply chains were disrupted and stockpiles were quickly depleted. The situation became dire. Medical isolation PPE was in such short supply that healthcare professionals were re-using these single-use items for days or even weeks at a time, putting themselves at increased risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Driven by a common desire to do whatever it would take to supply the necessary PPE to protect frontline workers exposed to this deadly virus, many companies quickly acted to find solutions. Some of the companies had no prior experience supplying PPE while others safety product manufacturers, like Allegro Industries, expanded our product line to help meet the critical need of supplying PPE in record time. We knew this would be a daunting task, but as a trusted name in the safety product industry for over 34 years, we felt it was our responsibility to help and we were up for the challenge.

Allegro’s PPE Options

We offer a wide-ranging line of safety products that many markets, including newly introduced healthcare and dental, can use to help keep their facilities and workers safe:

Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPRs)

• PN 9933 EZ Air Tyvek® Hood PAPR
• PN 9933-S EZ Air Saran Hood PAPR

Respirator Wipes

• PN 1001 Alcohol Respirator Cleaning Pads
• PN 1001-05 Alcohol Respirator Cleaning Pads (The Big Ones)
• PN 1001-20PP Alcohol Respirator Cleaning Wipes Pocket Pak
• PN 1001-20PPD Alcohol Respirator Cleaning Wipes Pocket Pak Dispenser Box
• PN 1001-200PU Alcohol Respirator Cleaning Wipes Pop-Up Pak

Face Protection

• PN 06BG Browguard
• PN 1410 Spray Sock
• PN 1415 Tri-Layer Washable Cloth Mask
• PN 1420 Lightweight Gaiter

Fit Test Kits

• PN 2040 Sweet (Saccharin) Fit Test Kit
• PN 2041 Bitter (Denatonium Benzoate) Fit Test Kit

Respirator Storage

• PN 2000 Large Plastic Storage Bag
• PN 2025 Large Cloth Storage Bag
• PN 4001-05 Large Disposable Plastic Storage Bag
• PN 4001-06 Extra Large Disposable Plastic Storage Bag

Lens Cleaning

• PN 0350 Eyewear Cleaning Wipes
• PN 0350-20PP Eyewear Cleaning Wipes Pocket Pak
• PN 0350-20PPD Eyewear Cleaning Wipes Pocket Pak Dispenser Box
• PN 0350-200PU Eyewear Cleaning Wipes Pop-Up Pak
• PN 0353 Eyewear Cleaning Wipes Canister

To view a complete list of all of our Healthcare and Dental-related products, click here!

Contact us for more information regarding any of our safety products that can help keep you safe!

The Purpose of Fit Testing

Fit testing confirms any respirator’s fit that forms a tight seal on the user’s face before it is used in the workplace. This ensures that users are receiving the expected level of protection by minimizing contaminant leakage into the facepiece. When a respirator does not fit properly, a portion of the air you breathe can bypass the respirator’s filter and enter your breathing airstream through breaks in the seal of the respirator along your face. If this happens, you may be exposed to harmful pathogens in the environment.

When to Fit Test Your Respirators?

All respirators that rely on a mask-to-face seal must be fit tested to validate the seal is air-tight. This fit test must be performed:

• prior to the first issue,
• when there’s a change in the model, style, or size of respirator used,
• when there’s a physical facial change in the person wearing the mask, and
• at least annually

Specific requirements for qualitative fit testing are detailed in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Respiratory Protection Standard, 29 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) 1910.134 Appendix A – Fit Testing Procedures (Mandatory).

Fit Test Protocols

OSHA recognizes two broad categories of fit testing – Quantitative and Qualitative. Quantitative Fit Testing is the process to measure the precise amount of leakage into any tight-fitting facepieces and is performed by a machine calculating the measurements. Typically, the facepiece is attached to a probe, which is connected to the measuring machine by a hose.

Qualitative Fit Testing is a pass/fail method that relies on the subjective sensory (taste, irritation, smell) response of the respirator wearer to a particular test agent, while the quantitative procedures measure actual face seal leakage.

The following mandatory qualitative fit test protocols from OSHA are recognized, testing agents:

Isoamyl Acetate (Isopentyl Acetate or Banana Oil). 

This qualitative fit test agent uses a person’s response to a fruit-like banana aroma to detect leakage into the respirator. A drawback to this agent is the lack of a strong reaction in some fit test subjects to the banana odor. Another drawback is it can only be used with respirators equipped with organic vapor cartridges.

Sweet (Saccharin).

This qualitative fit test agent uses a person’s response to a sweet taste to detect leakage into the respirator. This agent’s drawback is the lack of a strong reaction in some test subjects to a sweet taste.

Bitter (Denatonium Benzoate).

This qualitative fit test agent uses a person’s response to a bitter taste to detect leakage into the respirator. The advantage this agent has over Isoamyl Acetate and Saccharin is the bitter taste. Few enjoy a strong bitter taste, so an unavoidable response by the test subject is readily noticed.

Irritant Smoke.

This qualitative fit test agent uses a person’s response to the irritating chemicals released in the “smoke” produced by a stannic chloride smoke tube to detect leakage into the respirator. The stannic chloride reacts with humidity producing white smoke with a pungent odor. The drawback to Irritant smoke is that it can be toxic. The smoke contains two compounds: hydrogen chloride (HCl) and tin (Sn). Hydrogen chloride is highly corrosive to human tissue. Inhalation of a relatively low concentration will irritate the upper respiratory tract and eyes. This is why it’s such an effective chemical to use for respiratory fit testing.

Even though these qualitative fit testing agents can be used to fit test both half-mask and full-face respirators, it is important to note that qualitative fit tests only validate an assigned protection (APF) of 10 for half masks. OSHA has established an APF of 50 for full facepiece respirators. Still, to use a full facepiece beyond 10 times the permissible exposure limit (PEL), a quantitative fit test must be performed.

Fit Test Exercises

See our full training video on how to perform a proper fit test.

Before beginning the qualitative fit testing protocol, employees are given a description of the fit test and their responsibilities during the procedure. All four qualitative fit test protocols use these seven 60-second exercises:

1. Normal breathing: standing position without talking.
2. Deep breathing: standing position without talking, breathing slowly and deeply.
3. Turning head side-to-side: standing position, slowly turning head side-to-side, holding at an extreme point, and inhaling.
4. Nodding head up and down: standing position, slowly moving head up and down and inhaling in the up position.
5. Talking: talk aloud slowly and loud enough to be heard clearly; read from a prepared text (Rainbow Passage*, see below).
6. Bending over/jogging in place: bend at the waist as if to touch toes. Jogging in place is substituted for testing done in a shroud that does not permit bending over at the waist.
7. Normal breathing: standing position without talking.

*Rainbow Passage:
When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long, round arch with its path high about and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

The “rainbow passage” is used as part of the fifth exercise: talking. It’s a short and phonetically-balanced passage that reflects the variety of sounds and mouth movements used in normal, unscripted English speech. Having employees read the passage as part of the fit test ensures that they can carry out normal speech patterns while wearing the respirator.

In addition to the breathing exercises, OSHA standards require specific exercises for the following substances:

Facial Hair and Fit Testing

Facial hair is a common frustration when it comes to fit testing due to the fact that facial hair that lies along the sealing area of a respirator will cause a respirator to leak. The presence of facial hair under the sealing surface can cause up to 1,000 times more leakage compared to clean-shaven individuals. Facial hair that does not lie along the respirator’s sealing area is considered acceptable and will not affect the seal of the respirator to the wearer’s skin.

Alternative options for employees who are unwilling or unable to shave for both the fit test and during respirator use are loose-fitting Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPRs). This type of respirator uses a battery-powered blower to force air through a particle filter for the wearer to breathe. They can filter particles from the air at efficiencies suitable to be substituted in situations in which an N95 respirator has been recommended. Loose-fitting PAPRs, in which the hood or helmet is designed to form only a partial seal with the wearer’s face, or hoods that seal loosely around the wearer’s neck or shoulders, do not require fit testing. PAPRs also provide the added benefit of being reusable and therefore conserving supplies of N95 respirators. During an infectious disease outbreak such as COVID-19, PAPRs have become an increasingly important option to keep your workers safe as the N95 respirator inventory continues to deplete.

Our selection of PAPRs is suitable for a wide range of applications in a number of different industries. They include:

For more information on any of our products, please contact our customer service department or call us at 800.622.3530