Too hip to be safe?

The latest hipster trend that is sweeping across the country is popularising facial hair of any kind. And while this may be positive news for beard barbers, it also presents a safety risk that must be remembered by those who require respiratory equipment in the workplace.

In Australia and around the world, wearers of tight-fitting respiratory protective equipment (RPE) facepieces that depend on a face seal are advised to be clean-shaven in the area of the faceseal. Beards, moustaches, sideburns and stubble growth can all present problems that may interfere with the fit and the peripheral seal of the respirator.

According to a recent United Kingdom Health Safety Executive’s research report, HSE inspectors routinely come across workers with various degrees of stubble growth using respiratory protective masks, despite guidance to the contrary.

While tests have previously been carried out which demonstrate that facial hair is detrimental to the protection given by re-usable facepieces, there is little or no information on the impact of facial hair growth on the level of fit, and hence the degree of protection, given by disposable filtering facepieces. This triggered the Health Safety Executive to conduct a research project on ‘The effect of wearer stubble on the protection given by Filtering Facepieces Class 3 (FFP3) and Half Masks’.

The RR1052 research report released in March this year studied the effect of 0–7 day’s stubble growth on the protection given by FFP3 filtering facepieces and half masks.

Fifteen male volunteers took part, each testing four masks. For most, three different design FFP3 and one half mask were tested, selected from seven models of FFP3 and 2 half masks. Fit tests were carried out immediately after shaving and repeated six times during the following week, without further shaving.

Results showed that the effect on protection was quite specific to the mask/wearer combination. Protection could be significantly reduced where stubble was present, beginning within 24 hours from shaving, and generally worsening as facial hair grew. Statistical analysis predicted this could reach an unacceptable level for all of the masks tested.

While some individual wearers did grow some stubble without significantly reducing protection with some masks, this was unpredictable and it would not be practical to conduct the necessary testing to confirm this for every individual wearer.

The results of this work support the statement given in the European Standard EN 529 (annex D.4.2), which advises that tight-fitting facepieces should not be selected where there is unshaven hair in the area of the faceseal. The definition of unshaven given is: “In this context unshaven means hair which has not been shaved within the previous 8-hour period prior to the work shift”. The research also reinforces the guidance which supports UK Health and Safety legislation that workers should be clean-shaven in the area of the faceseal when wearing tight-fitting respirator.

The research confirmed that the current guidance advising being clean-shaven in the area of the mask seal is justified.

The full 2015 UK HSE research report is available at: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr1052.pdf.

Further information: Standards Australia. AS/NZS 1715:2009 - Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective devices and Standards Australia. AS/NZS 1716:2003 - Respiratory protective device.

Image credit: ©whanwhanai/Dollar Photo Club