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>> A century of remarkable progress has passed
since the first U.S. respirator approval.
At the dawn of the 20th century, America was changing,
and the cost
of industrialization was often borne
by our most vulnerable citizens.
Many paid with their health, their safety, and their lives.
In disaster after disaster, the simple but profound inability
to breathe was the culprit.
Many individuals were lost to dangerous dusts, vapors,
and undetectable gases.
This was particularly true for those working in mining.
Social reformers sounded the alarm, and Congress passed laws
and regulations, making bold commitments
to independent science in the public's name.
In 1910, Congress created the Bureau of Mines,
which soon developed an expertise
in respiratory protection.
The Bureau responded in World War I,
when the U.S. War Department needed masks
to protect soldiers from gas attacks.
After the war, much of the Bureau's work focused
on research and testing respirators
for saving trapped miners.
This culminated in 1920,
when the Mine Safety Appliance Company received the first
approval for the Gibbs Breathing Apparatus.
Named for a Bureau inventor, it was the first successful,
self-contained breathing apparatus.
The trend towards 20th century workers safety efforts
continued, producing the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act
of 1969, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970,
forming OSHA and NIOSH.
NIOSH took over respiratory protection from the Bureau
of Mines and eventually this work and PPE,
Personal Protective Equipment, research merged
into the National Personal Protective
Technology Laboratory.
NPPTL established an integrated approach
to occupational safety and health.
Built upon quality partnerships, as it strived and continues
to strive, to advance the application and use of PPE.
The founding of NPPTL represented the beginning
of a new wave of standard setting, the modular approach
to rulemaking and leadership and consensus standard development.
Testing and certifying respirators,
as well as leading research to advance the knowledge
of respiratory protection serve to improve the safety and health
of the workers who rely on these products.
>> I think what impresses me the most is their foresightedness
and how they actually developed the program from nothing.
They didn't have any examples of how to go
about developing any type of approval
or certification program, back in the early 1900's.
>> They had to really, critically and scientifically,
understand a lot of the science that went
into developing our test procedures
and our review criteria for the approval of respirators.
>> Yeah, the big thing that we need to remember is,
is those folks had limited resources to do research
and build requirements around the types of devices
that they needed to get to the mining community.
So, based on what -- the technologies that they had
at the time, I think that was a really big effort
that needs to be recognized.
>> The diversity of the American workplace,
not just the work performed,
but the people performing it rose in priority.
Researchers studied respirator filtration and fit
and other advances to better protect workers.
Advancements in respiratory protection became vital,
as tuberculosis reemerged
to endanger healthcare workers and first responders.
To respond to global terrorism,
NPPTL studied how respirators could protect first responders
from emerging chemical, biological,
radiological, and nuclear threats.
It was none too soon.
The September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks shocked the nation,
dramatically bringing attention to respiratory protection.
The NPPTL team rushed to the World Trade Center's site,
with fellow experts from other NIOSH divisions
and other government agencies.
Government professionals worked tirelessly.
Efforts concentrated on more quickly developing standards
to evaluate respirators for use against the emerging threats.
NIOSH and its partners developed new standards
and ramped up test methods.
Research, standards, conformity assessment,
and effective guidance were all targeted toward
first responders.
This historic time drew on NPPTL's abilities
and dedication to serve.
These experiences transformed NPPTL.
>> Nine-eleven changed the game, because I think the one thing
that became clear is that we needed protection.
We needed a type of protection
that was basically for the unknown.
So, we brought together consolidated protection
that covered many different families of chemicals.
So, I think that was the one big thing that's out there, is that,
you know, some things emerge that can be used for more
than one hazard assessment.
>> While continuing to prioritize the respirator-approval program,
NPPTL also evaluates new technologies,
and efforts to address emerging hazards sets the stage
for NPPTL's next century.
Its research, testing,
and approval agenda is always emerging.
>> Another innovation that I see coming is smart respirators,
where they actually have sensors built into the facepiece
to measure the person's actual exposure while they're wearing
their respirator.
>> A researcher in this field really needs to keep
up with the trends and new hazards, new technologies
that they could use in their research,
or new PPE technologies.
So, for example, like real-time monitoring.
Could a respirator be fit with a device
that could give you a real-time number of the performance
of the respirator, as the person is wearing it?
And if the person had a problem
with the respirator they're wearing,
could they know immediately, and then possibly, you know,
leave the area to get in a safe zone?
>> Partnerships, safety culture,
and technical know-how empower NPPTL's agenda.
>> I'm on a project where we use partnerships to make sure our,
you know, our project, idea, and study design is something
that would be helpful to that, you know, sector in the world.
And partners and stakeholders really help get our research
from the lab and manuscripts to part of a standard.
So, our partners, you know, are really the ones
that help us get the research heard by others.
>> Partnership is important, and always looking
at what are the user needs.
And then also partnering with the PPE manufacturers,
because they are ultimately the people
who will make the devices.
And also the experts in the field,
that know the health effects.
>> Today, NPPTL continues to think of workers.
From the miner, to the healthcare professional
to the first responder.
Focus on the worker is maintained with cool,
scientific heads and warm hearts.
What does this give the world?
A capability to respond to rising threats,
like wild land fires and environmental hazards;
a drive for respirators as unique as workers
and their many jobs; a curiosity for innovations
to help workers safely breathe in dangerous settings;
a keen focus on new technologies, like robotics,
big data, and smart respirators; a commitment
to ensure adequate stockpiles of working respirators;
a mission to serve user wants
and respiratory protection needs; an agility for responding
to new inhalation hazards, like the opioid crisis;
a method based on testing, not assumptions.
All this and more come
from scientific leadership and excellence.
>> When I think of excellence and integrity and quality
of work that we do, I guess what comes to mind is we have
so many different types of research, and for our type
of approval program, what's unique is that after
that respirator is on the market and in the customer hands,
our research and our quality doesn't stop.
We have several projects and programs that we evaluate
or conduct post-market research.
>> On the 100th anniversary of the first respirator approval,
we thank those who came before, those working today,
and all who will carry the mission forward.
>> I would encourage new people coming into the field
to really try to understand what the topics are,
understand that these are actual people wearing the devices,
having to use the PPE, to protect themselves.
And because they're depending on these devices,
that we really have to think about how they're used,
what are the issues, and then to keep
up with current technology out there.
>> I'm helping people, and I'm helping
to mentor the next generation.
It will be here after I'm gone.
>> We celebrate the story of the American workplace,
as well as the informed policy, intentional cooperation,
and work by dedicated public servants.
>> You've got to rely on personal protective equipment.
So, firstly, it's not the first line of defense.
It's the last.
And then, just the importance of when you are at that level,
where that's your last line of defense,
is you have to have confidence in the device,
and if it has the NIOSH label on it,
you can certainly have confidence
that it will protect you for its intended purpose,
but have you selected the right one for the hazard?
>> I'm proud of our job.
I'm proud of everybody doing what they want to do,
what they love to do, and I don't know, a feeling of,
we're doing something out there for the user.
>> Through a century of workplace triumphs
and tragedies, NPPTL's mission continues, motivated by the urgency
of respiratory protection, a matter of life and death.
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