The Reference

What a practice needs now

The 2020–21 shortage taught independent practices a hard curriculum: which mask standards actually certify what, how to tell a genuine approval from a counterfeit, what OSHA requires once anyone in the office actually wears one, and how much reserve is enough. The Reference is that curriculum written down for keeps — plain and procedural, cited to the governing texts by name: NIOSH approvals under 42 CFR Part 84, OSHA's respiratory protection standard 29 CFR 1910.134, and FDA's device rule 21 CFR 878.4040. Each article states what is settled and what is not, and links the live primary source, because approvals and guidance change after any page is written.

Choose

• N95 vs KN95 vs surgical mask: what a healthcare practice is actually required to use
  How the three standards divide the field, why a KN95 certified to GB 2626-2019 cannot satisfy a required OSHA program, and where surgical masks fit.

Verify

• How to verify a respirator is really NIOSH-approved
  Reading TC numbers and required markings, checking the Certified Equipment List, counterfeit red flags — and a dated status section on NIOSH approval itself.

Comply

• Does a five-person dental or medical office need an OSHA respiratory protection program?
  Required versus voluntary use under 29 CFR 1910.134, what a written program contains, and what Appendix D covers instead.

• Fit testing without a hospital occupational-health department
  QLFT versus QNFT, the medical evaluation that comes first, who may administer a test, and what it costs in 2026.

Keep

• Do N95s expire?
  What the use-by date means, what actually degrades in storage, and the uses NIOSH and state agencies still assign to expired stock.

• How much PPE should a small practice keep on hand?
  Burn-rate math, the 30/60/90-day question, and rotation against expiry — stated honestly, since no federal office standard exists.

How this curriculum was learned the hard way is preserved in The Record; the N95-specific starting point is /n95/.