Randy Lewis is a safety specialist for Airgas, Inc., based in Des Moines, Iowa. He can be reached at (515) 240-7867 or randy.lewis@airgas.com. Airgas, Inc. (www. airgas.com), through its subsidiaries, is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, and hardgoods such as welding equipment and supplies, and is one of the largest U.S. distributors of safety products.
According to OSHA, American workers in an estimated 1.3 million workplaces are required to wear respirators to guard against environments with insufficient oxygen and harmful air contaminants.