Cleaning, Care & Maintenance

Many countries place a legal requirement on companies to maintain their reusable RPE and keep maintenance records. Make sure you understand what is required by law, so you can design your company’s care and maintenance policy to be fully compliant.

Care and maintenance instructions are included in the product user instructions. Some manufacturers may also publish additional resources to help you manage care and maintenance and provide training to your team. Care and maintenance support for 3M products can be found by visiting the Resources section of this page.

There are many factors to consider when selecting new RPE for your team, and budget is normally an important consideration. Remember to consider the durability of the product construction, availability of spare parts and the ease of maintenance before reaching a final decision – these factors can outweigh differences in the initial purchase price of the product.

Respirator filters do not last forever. Once a gas & vapour filter has been used to its full capacity, it will no longer offer any protection. An overused particulate filter may still protect you, but it will be hard to breathe through, potentially leading to fatigue & reduced productivity. The service life of a filter can be affected by a number of factors, including the type of filter, the concentration of contaminants in the air, breathing rates, humidity and temperature. Best practice is to establish a filter change schedule - a specified time period after which filters will be replaced.