If you wear tight-fitting respiratory equipment (RPE) at work, it is a legal requirement to undergo a face fit test carried out by a competent person. This is set out in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002, as enforced by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
Tight-fitting RPE, such as disposable masks, half masks, and some full face masks, work by forming a seal around the face, thereby minimising the risk of exposure to harmful airborne substances.
Facial hair – stubble and beards – will cause gaps around the edges of the mask, allowing contaminated air to bypass the filter and be inhaled directly. This comprises your protection and puts your health at risk.
For this reason, the HSE in the UK clearly states that individuals who are required to wear tight-fitting RPE must be clean shaven in the area where the mask fits against the face.
Face fit testing – whether qualitative or quantitative – is designed to confirm that the selected mask provides adequate protection for the individual. If a proper seal cannot be achieved due to facial hair, the test will fail.
For individuals who wear beards, alternative forms of RPE that do not rely on a tight face seal – such as powered hoods or helmets – are available and can provide effective protection.
President of IOSH 2008, Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
I am pleased that you are helping dispel some of the dafter myths that surround OH&S (a passion you and I clearly have in common) and the item clearly indicates that as with so many of our professional colleagues you are not about stopping fun on the pretext of H&S. It is only with the help of people such as yourself that we will eventually get the message across that OH&S is about bringing (as you so aptly put it) purpose and value to peoples lives
