equipment. While the committee applauds the initiative of NIOSH and the BLS in conducting the pioneering SRUP in 2001 in order to bring workplace practices to light, it concludes that further studies must go beyond this initial effort to discover information useful in the promotion of wear and care of respirators.

For this reason, the committee strongly recommends that future surveys elicit information from both employers and employees. The procedures for an employee-within-establishment survey have been implemented successfully elsewhere and should be replicable for gathering this type of information from the ultimate users as well as the employers who bear responsibility for ensuring proper use. The recommendations in this report, in concert with the lessons learned from the pioneering SRUP, should enable NPPTL to mount a data collection operation that employs the most advanced and scientifically sound methods and helps augment the base of knowledge needed to advance the ultimate goal of the organization to improve health and safety in the workplace.