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Each balloon carried between 24 lbs (11 kg) and 30 lbs (14 kg) of bombs. Once in position, these bombs were dropped from their carrier balloons to wreak havoc on the city below. Fortunately for the Venetians, only one bomb found its mark, as most of the balloons were blown off-course due to a sudden change in wind direction.

The U.S. also began the Pioneer UAV Program in 1980 to build an inexpensive drone for fleet operations. A joint project by the U.S. and Israel in 1986 led to the development of the RQ2 Pioneer – a medium-sized reconnaissance aircraft. Also, during this period, drone developers began focusing on alternative power sources for drones. One obvious source was solar power.

Healthcare personnel who care for patients with ATDs must often work near the source of the hazard, exposing them to a higher risk of inhaling infectious aerosols than the general public. Even with hazard controls in place, such as engineering, administrative, and work practice controls, additional protection from respiratory hazards is sometimes necessary by wearing PPE such as a respirator.

OSHArespiratory protectionfact Sheet

However, the most notable event of the Second World War concerning drones was the emergence of the V-1 “Doodlebugs” of the German army. Fitted with pulsejets, these crafts were the world’s first-ever cruise missiles.

Despite the great potential for drones to be used as a weapon, several groups have also raised questions about the ethics of this type of remote weaponry, given the possibility of errors resulting in the deaths of civilians because of inaccurate data.

This number tripled one year later and has continued to grow exponentially since. Equipping drones with cameras is now commonplace in commercial photography and videography. This results from merging radio-controlled (RC) aircraft and smartphone technology.

Respirators must be used when engineering control systems are not feasible or insufficient to eliminate the respiratory hazard. They may also be needed while engineering controls are being installed.

Although Low’s projects had some success, and Low was nicknamed “the father of radio guidance systems,”  his work was not followed up by the British military after the war. The British government did not appreciate the cutting-edge nature of Low’s work, although the Germans certainly understood its importance – they made two attempts to assassinate Low.

Two key types of respirators, each designed to provide different levels of protection and safeguard against different hazards, are:

The concept of drones may well date back to 1849 when Austria attacked Venice using unmanned balloons stuffed with explosives. Austrian forces, besieging Venice at the time, launched around 200 of these incendiary balloons over the city.

The use of DIY drones is also becoming more popular. Because of their smaller size and portability, DIY drones have the potential to be used by police forces and fire services for surveillance.

2006 was another pivotal year in the history of drones. This was the year the FAA officially issued the first commercial drone permit.

Others also claim that UAVs threaten privacy and safety, while others believe that this is outweighed by their potential to be used for the better. Whatever the opinions are, drones are expected to increase in number as they become smarter and more capable and find uses in a broader number of industries and a more comprehensive number of roles in the future.

where wouldbethe best place to store your respirator?

For military applications, drones are expected to become smaller and lighter with much longer battery life and flight times. There will also be developments in improving drone optics and other capabilities further. In the civilian market, developments in improving flight times allow them to serve as delivery platforms for emergency services and data collection in areas too dangerous for humans, such as power plants or fires.

By the middle of the decade, the FAA saw a massive growth in demand for drone permits, with around 1000 commercial drone permits issued in 2015.

Who is responsible for respirator maintenance

As innovative as this event was in the field of military technology, the use of balloons does not meet the current definition of drones, especially military drones, as we have seen above.

According to the requirements of OSHA’s respiratory protection standard, each organization requiring respirator use must incorporate the following elements into their written respiratory protection programs:

However, consumer applications were slow to start, with very small numbers of people applying for permits in the first few years.

The purpose of a respirator worn by healthcare personnel is primarily to protect the wearer by reducing the concentration of infectious particles in the air they inhale. These particles can originate from infectious patients exhaling, talking, sneezing, or coughing in healthcare settings, as well as from medical procedures and laboratory activities that may aerosolize pathogens.

Mini- and micro-versions of UAVs were introduced in 1990, and the famous Predator drone was introduced in 2000. This was used in Afghanistan to launch missiles and in the search of Osama Bin Laden. In the following years, several small-sized, fixed-wing surveillance drones such as Raven, Wasp, and Puma were developed by AeroVironment Inc.

However, the credit for inventing a radio-controlled aircraft that could fly out of sight goes to Edward M. Sorensen, who patented an invention that used a ground terminal to track the airplane’s movements. Before this development, early RC aircraft could only operate within the visual sight of the controlling pilot.

Shortly after this, the U.S. Army built the Kettering Bug, which used gyroscopic controls and was intended to be used as an “aerial torpedo.” Each “Bug” was launched from a four-wheeled dolly that rolled down a portable track.

After WW1, UAV technological developments continued unabated. In the 1930s, the U.S. Navy began experimenting with radio-controlled aircraft, which resulted in the development of Curtiss N2C-2 Drone in 1937. In 1935, the British developed “Queen Bee,” a radio-controlled target drone, which is also believed to have led to using the term “drone” for radio-controlled unmanned aircraft.

Moving forward a bit in time, the first pilotless aircraft was developed in 1916, after the outbreak of  World War I. Called the Ruston Proctor Aerial Target, these pilotless military drones used a radio guidance system developed by British engineer Archibald Low. Using a hand-picked team of around 30 men, Low rapidly built a pilotless plane launched from the back of a truck using compressed air (also a first). In 1917, Low and his team invented the first wireless rocket. The Germans would later adapt the technology for this for their V1 rocket program in WWII.

Respiratory protectionN95

The future of drones looks highly promising. Gartner predicts that the global drone market will grow substantially over the next few years.

Millions of American employees, including healthcare workers, rely on respirators to safeguard themselves against occupational diseases transmitted through contaminated air. Ensuring adherence to regulatory protocols for personal protective equipment (PPE), such as respirators, is essential. One pivotal aspect for healthcare facilities to achieve this is having a comprehensive written respiratory protection program when workers are required to wear respirators.

Even though the U.S. achieved a breakthrough in the mass manufacturing and supply of drones for the military, UAVs were often considered unreliable and expensive. This perspective changed in 1982 when Israeli forces used unmanned aircraft to gain a victory over the Syrian Air Force with minimal losses.

Of course, UAVs are also an increasingly important part of the military in many countries. American armed forces have a fleet of tens of thousands of drones today, compared to just a few twenty years ago. This is dwarfed, however, by the number of drones in private use. According to the FAA, there are just over 855,000 drones registered in the U.S. as of the start of 2023.

Who knows, perhaps microscopic drones might not be too far away. Development in flight control algorithms, machine vision, and onboard processing power will enable drones to make decisions rather than rely on human input, further improving the drones‘ reaction time and speed.

“After a predetermined time, a control closed an electrical circuit, which shut off the engine. Then, the wings were released, causing the Bug to plunge to earth — where its 180 pounds (82 kg) of explosive detonated on impact,” according to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Around 50 of the “Bugs” were built by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Co., but they arrived too late to see any combat.

Employers must provide applicable and suitable respirators to each employee when necessary to protect their health. Moreover, the employer is responsible for establishing and maintaining a respiratory protection program that covers each employee required to use a respirator. This program must include worksite-specific procedures and elements. In addition, the program must be updated as necessary to reflect changes in workplace conditions affecting respirator use.

Respiratory protectionToolbox Talk

The last ten years have seen a huge explosion in drone innovation and commercial interest. While before this, drones were primarily used for military purposes or hobbyists; beginning in the early-2010s, a host of new uses were proposed for drones, including their use as delivery vehicles.

For example, Business Insider expects global drone shipments to rise to 2.4 million by 2023 — a 66.8% compound annual growth rate. “Drone growth will occur across the four main segments of the enterprise industry: Agriculture, construction and mining, insurance, and media and telecommunications,” explains Business Insider.

That being said, it did demonstrate that the concept of a quadcopter would work for flight — it would just take more technological development to make it viable.

It is not inconceivable that micro-drones will become commonplace in military and commercial/industrial applications in the not-too-distant future. Much like the recent pocket-sized drones recently commissioned by the U.S. Army.

One common feature of many modern commercial drones is the quadcopter configuration. Early development of this technology appeared in 1907, when brothers Jacques and Louis Bréguet, with the help of French physiologist Professor Charles Richet, developed an early example with their gyroplane, a forerunner of the helicopter.

However, the growing use of unregulated UAVs has also raised questions about privacy and physical safety. With the war in Ukraine, we have also seen the extensive use of drones for various roles in combat as cheap, disposable reconnaissance craft or bomb delivery platforms. If military history is anything to go by, other militaries worldwide will watch this conflict closely.

when inspecting a respirator before you use it, ensure that:

“A drone, in technological terms, is an unmanned aircraft. … Essentially, a drone is a flying robot that can be remotely controlled or fly autonomously through software-controlled flight plans in their embedded systems, working in conjunction with onboard sensors and GPS,” as defined by the Internet of Things Agenda.

Thanks to breakthroughs in transistor technology at this time, radio-controlled components could now be miniaturized enough to be sold to civilian customers at a reasonable cost. This led to something of a boom in RC planes during this decade.

OSHArespiratory protectionstandard PDF

The rapid growth in the usage of smartphones reduced the prices of microcontrollers, accelerometers, and camera sensors, which are ideal for use in fixed-wing hobbyist aircraft. Further advances allowed a drone with four or more rotors to be controlled by adjusting the speed of individual rotors. Improving the stability of multirotor aircraft opened up new possibilities for them to be used in several ways.

Between October 2022 and September 2023, respiratory protection was one of the top-cited OSHA standards in healthcare. Complying with OSHA standards not only helps to keep employees safe but also aids in avoiding citations and monetary penalties.

Respirators, when used within the context of a comprehensive respiratory protection program, are designed and regulated to provide a known level of protection. This program ensures that all employees who are required to wear respirators receive proper training, fit testing, and guidance on maintenance and use. By implementing a comprehensive respiratory protection program, healthcare facilities can effectively safeguard their employees against airborne hazards and ensure a safe working environment.

The program must be run by a designated program administrator who has appropriate training or experience, which is aligned with the program’s level of complexity. Employers should understand OSHA’s respiratory protection standard requirements, be familiar with the respirators used by the staff, and be able to recognize, evaluate, and control hazards in the workplace. OSHA provides a Small Entity Compliance Guide outlining all of the elements a respiratory protection program must meet, including components for voluntary respirator use.

Some countries have also deployed drones for home security and crowd control. While a worrying development, authorities in some areas are likely to continue using drones for this type of surveillance.  Miniaturization is also expected to play a massive role in the future of drones. Drones will also dramatically reduce their size as components are made smaller and smaller.

Again, as the incendiary balloon used by the Austrian army more than 50 years before, this was still not technically a drone as we know it today.

According to various dictionaries, like Merriam-Webster, a drone tends to be defined as “an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers.” – Merriam Webster. While the term also has other meanings, for the context of this article, a drone is, in effect, an unmanned flying object either controlled remotely or operating entirely autonomously.

They were used in a campaign of “terror bombing” in British cities like London to demoralize the British public. Their guidance system used a simple autopilot to control altitude and airspeed; gyroscopes controlled yaw and pitch; the azimuth was maintained using a magnetic compass; a barometric device was used to control altitude. The gyros, rudder, and elevator were controlled using pressurized air.

Any respirator will protect you in an idlh atmosphere

A respirator is worn over the mouth and nose or the entire face and prevents users from inhaling harmful airborne substances.

For its time, the design of the copter was visionary. Although it achieved the first ascent of a vertical-flight aircraft with a pilot, it only reached a height of 0.6 meters. It was also not a free flight, as four men were needed to steady the structure.

The technology was later reverse-engineered by the Americans, who developed their pulsejet-powered unmanned aerial drones like the TD2D-1 Katydid and Curtiss KD2C.

Radioplane OQ-2, a remote-controlled model airplane developed by British actor Reginald Denny and engineer Walter Righter in the 1930s, became the first mass-produced UAV product in the U.S. Nearly 15,000 drones were manufactured for the military during the war.

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Kashyap Vyas is an entrepreneur, marketer and writer. He holds a Master’s degree in Thermal Engineering with several research papers to his credit. Kashyap primarily authors in-depth content in the science & technology space. You can find more about him on LinkedIn.

Learn more about how Stericycle can help your organization navigate OSHA standards such as the Respiratory Protection Standard.

Leaping forward a few more years, the next big step in drone technology occurred during the Vietnam War. This war saw the first widespread deployment and use of drones as dedicated reconnaissance UAVs.

Hospitals and healthcare facilities are unique work environments with many challenging occupational health and safety concerns. These organizations sometimes require the use of respirators to keep employees safe from airborne hazards such as aerosol transmissible diseases (ATDs). To ensure maximum protection and effectiveness from respirators, OSHA has requirements in place for employers such as creating and following a written respiratory protection program. A respiratory protection program is designed to protect employees by establishing procedures for selection, use, and care of respirators.

Planes began to appear in kit form, allowing enthusiasts to build and fly RC craft indoors or outdoors. Hobbyists also started a large number of RC aircraft clubs. This created a cottage industry, which would speed up the development of commercial RC technology.

Also, “drones also began to be used in a range of new roles, such as acting as decoys in combat, launching missiles against fixed targets, and dropping leaflets for psychological operations,” according to the Imperial War Museum, London.

Adhering to these guidelines ensures the effective implementation and maintenance of a comprehensive respiratory protection program, ultimately promoting a safe and healthy work environment for affected employees.

The need for drones also occurred in many other nations worldwide, which also began to explore the use of UAVs for various military applications. New drone models became more sophisticated as designers focused on improving endurance and the height at which the drones could safely operate.

That being said, it is exciting to see the basic concept of drones being considered by military technologists more than 170 years ago. This kind of thinking would drive drone technological development over the coming centuries and decades.

Today, drones are used for various functions, including monitoring climate change, delivering goods, aiding search and rescue operations, and filming and photography.

If employees must wear respirators at work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to have a written respiratory protection program, as outlined in OSHA's respiratory protection standard 1910.134 under the PPE Subpart. The standard aims to safeguard employees from occupational diseases caused by inhaling contaminated air, including harmful dust.

In the late 1950s, the U.S. spy plane, the manned SR-71 Blackbird, was still in development, and spy satellites were not ready for deployment yet. What was needed were specialized UAVs to gather information in combat areas safely. Some models did exist, like the Ryan 147Bs, but these need to be piggybacked on C-130s and parachuted to the ground in friendly territory to recover any information they gathered.