The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has designated Friday, September 5 as N95 Day and will use the event as an opportunity to emphasize the importance of properly using NIOSH-approved N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) to substantially reduce the risk of injury, illness and death.

“NIOSH is getting excited! September 5 is just around the bend, and that means so is one of our favorite holidays – N95 Day!”

NIOSH estimates that 20 million American workers use respirators every day to protect against potential job hazards – from doctors and nurses to firefighters, first-responders, construction workers, and agriculture workers. Sadly, almost 50,000 deaths are attributed to work-related diseases each year.

The agency will be reaching out through social media channels to bring users the best N95 filtering facepiece respirator information.

N95 Day activities will include:

1. A Twitter chat with NIOSH respirator experts #N95Day
2. An educational webinar on the importance of N95 respirators for pandemic preparedness
3. Important educational information about N95 FFRs
4. New Pinterest-able infographics with N95 FFR information reminders
5. Dozens of city and state official declarations of N95 Day, marking this observance as a national event! 

“If N95s are part of your workplace respiratory protection program, please take some time on September 5 to focus on your safety and get to know NIOSH and the resources we provide.”

NIOSH Twitter Chat

This forum will enable participants to ask questions about N95 respirators and their use.

Webinar

The webinar will focus on an important message that every N95 day user and respiratory protection program administrator should always keep in mind: respirator preparedness is about proper practices every day. A panel of experts on this topic has been brought together to present important guidance and information as well as answer questions. (More information about the time and registration for this webinar will be available soon.)

Follow NIOSH at @NPPTL and @NIOSH on Twitter (#N95Day) and as well as on the NIOSH facebook page.  

In addition to the government activities, healthcare organizations around the nation are promoting the day through their websites and social media pages and encouraging real users to share personal stories of how their health was protected by N95 respirators or why they believe N95 respirators are important. #MyN95

Additional information for N95 day is posted on the NIOSH website

Click one of the links below for N95 Day articles on the NIOSH Blog from the last two years:

N95 Day 2012: http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2012/09/05/n95day/

N95 Day 2013: http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2013/09/05/n95-day-2013/