Protecting lungs from risks such as chemicals and dust is critical to keeping agricultural producers healthy.

Despite current shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers and agricultural workers still need respiratory protection for many tasks in agriculture. The Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health — in partnership with the Ag Health and Safety Alliance and the High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety — has developed recommendations for conserving respiratory inventory while supplies are limited.

Reuse of two-strap disposable respirators is not a recommended practice, but in a time of limited availability, it may need to be considered. This type of respirator should only be reused within the following guidelines:

If using a reusable respirator such as a half-facepiece, full-facepiece or powered air purifying respirator, the following recommendations should be observed:

A guide for choosing agricultural respiratory protection can be found at unmc.edu.

Cloth face coverings are not an acceptable replacement for a respirator at preventing exposure to respiratory hazards in the agricultural workplace. They should only be used as a means of infection control.

In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (grocery stores, farm supply stores, machinery dealerships), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.

This practice may help people who have the virus and do not know it from spreading it to others, but it does not provide you with protection from any other respiratory hazards or COVID-19.

Follow CDC guidance for cleaning and removing cloth face coverings: cdc.gov.

Consider alternative controls that reduce exposure to respiratory hazards and thus reduce reliance on personal protective equipment. Examples include:

When applying pesticides, the label is still the law. You must wear the PPE required by the product labels. If the label-required respirator is not available, consider using a respirator that provides greater respiratory protection.

To find out more about best practices for respiratory protection during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit unmc.edu.

Source: University of Nebraska Medical Center, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.