The maintenance people are often forgotten when it comes to respiratory protection. The use of surgcial type masks in a heath care setting to protect against Legionella is very wrong and gives a false sence of security, particularly when no attention is paid to fit.
Infection Control
Local newspapers report the silt from from the Queensland Floods is toxic, but fail to recognise a child is wearing inappropriate respiratory protection on a front page story while shovelling dried silt.
Flood silt and respiratory protection
Many public health authorities recommned dilute bleach to kill mould. It appears that bleach may be ineffective at killing mould spores, but a vinegar added to dilute bleach to reduce its alkalinity makes it much more effective.
Killing mould after the Queensland floods
The hidden danger of fungi and bacteria will be present after flooded Australian houses and buildings are renovated. The key to prevention will be the early treatment of cavities and surfaces before fungi and bacteria really get a hold.
Queensland floods, the cleanup
1 Most health authorities consider droplet transmission to be important with influenza. If this is true, then height and high heels should give some protection.
Do tall people avoid the flu?
The National Academies Press is a great source of in-depth reports on many issues. Many of the reports can be downloaded as free PDF files. The pre-publications of the report Certifying Personal Protective Technologies: Improving Worker Safety advances the very broad area of certification to ensure a minimum level of protection […]
PPE Certification
During a literacy project with 3 rural primary schools in Cambodia in October 2009, I saw several posters by the Australian Government on the walls of classrooms. The design of the mask is such that it would give the wearer very limited protection as the face mask would not seal […]
Face masks in Cambodia
CHOICE, the Australian Consumers Association contacted me about swine flu and but this ion their website on May 1 2009.
CHOICE on swine flu
A US Institute of Medicine task force has just reported on the use of PPE with the H1N1 Swine Flu. Of particular interest is early findings from Professor MacIntyre’s (University of New South Wales) study into PPE in Chinese hospitals Major findings of the task force from an occupational hygiene […]
US IOM Task Force reports on PPE with HINI Swine ...
This snippet is from the July 9 British Occupational Hygiene Society ebulletin and resonates with my views. “The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued a presentation put together by its Federal Interagency Committee for Indoor Air Quality on the transmission of viruses in indoor air and HVAC system protection options. […]