MINNEAPOLIS, MN (August 23, 2018) Working together shapes community. This summer Midwest Special Instruments (MSI) hosted Kendra Palmer Anderson and Lance Anderson from Palmer Associates, who taught a NIOSH spirometry course in Savage, MN.
NIOSH designs curriculum to help ensure spirometry testing is professionally performed, incorporating the most recent guidance from organizations such as OSHA and the American Thoracic Society.1 Trainers like Palmer Associates provide training and expertise nationwide. Specialized dealers like Midwest Special Instruments know the local territory and host the training.
Most students came from the Twin Cities area, but some traveled from as far as Puerto Rico. The twenty students in attendance used the training opportunity to network and discuss how they run their facilities. The relationships formed enhanced the learning experience.
Students used multiple spirometer brands. Matt Williams and Jason McKenna of MSI and Jim Teter of Benson Medical Instruments assisted with instruction on using the spirometers. In the process, Jim discovered ways to make the products more effective.
The NIOSH website2 states that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires NIOSH spirometry training for technicians who test workers exposed to certain cotton dusts. Also, OSHA has the new silica standard that would require a NIOSH spirometry training certificate for staff who administer spirometry tests.3 Legislation has recently been passed to require spirometry testing for all underground and surface coal miners.4
Benson Medical Instruments Co. designs and manufactures audiometers, earplug fit testers, spirometers, and software to manage hearing conservation and occupational spirometry programs. Benson instruments are widely used in military, industrial, government safety, and health applications.
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1 NIOSH Website. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/spirometry/training.html, Accessed 8/13/2018
2NIOSH Spirometry Questions and Answers, https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/spirometry/QA.html, accessed Aug 10, 2018.
3 Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 42.37.90https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=1270, accessed Aug 10, 2018.
4 OSHA Standard 1926.1153(h)(2)(iv) https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi- bin/retrieveECFR?&n=42y1.0.1.3.21&r=PART&ty=HTML#sp42.1.37.xx1, accessed Aug 10, 2018.
