With beards growing in popularity year on year within the UK this raised the questions on how a tight fitted respirator performs when partnered with our stylish facial hair. Although this was received in the construction community as nothing more than a silly concern originally it was later found to be far from a silly concern and more of a potentially serious HEALTH RISK!
YouGov research shows that over the five years from August 2011 to November 2016 Britons has seen an increase in the proportion of men sporting facial hair. In mid-2011, 37% of men had some form of facial hair – by late 2016 this had risen to 42%.
Source: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/03/10/beards-are-growing-british-public
This blog will cover off where we are with this currently!
Initially we should clarify what a ‘tight fitting respirator’ is, this is any respirator that works by sealing your nose and mouth away from the environment you are working in and functioning by breathing through filtration which captures the harmful element when inhaling.
This type of product will also require a face fit test to ensure the mask fits correctly to the user, this test must be carried out when the user is clean shaven!
Examples of products that are tight fitting:
Half mask products, disposable masks & full-face masks.
If a worker is using a tight-fitting respirator, they must be clean shaven around the area where the mask seals to the face at all times, facial hair that is within the face seals area is fine as this doesn’t affect the seal.
Now onto respirators which can be worn while having facial hair, these are known as loose fitting respirators these are powered air units which operate with a waist mounted battery unit that generates the filtered air to the face area and into a loose hood which typically tightens below the neck.
This type of product has the bonus of not requiring a face fit test – this is due to it not being reliant on a tight seal.
An example of this type of product would be the Jetstream Constructor unit which can be found within the OAKEYS store, designed for construction sites as it is a respiratory product attached to a hard hat and impact resistant face shield.
So, the answer to the question is YES you can wear a respiratory product with a beard, but it would need to be a loose-fitting respirator.
If you have a tight-fitting respirator, to ensure you are safe and protected being clean shaven is essential alongside a face fit test which is carried out by a fit2fit accredited tester.
Our full range of respiratory protection below:
Respiratory Masks
Respiratory masks is at large in the marketplace with hundreds of different variations of products and performance levels, OAKEYS have valuable experience within this category, understanding which products offer the best performance, price, quality and protection.
OAKEYS has condensed all the respiratory products in the industry into our range of products, supplying an excellent range of products without leaving you with to many options.
Our range consists of disposable dust masks, half masks, full face masks, powered air respiratory unit and face fit testing kits.
Providing performance levels of FFP2, FFP3, P3, A2P3, ABEK1P3.
We have qualified face fit testers which are are able to carry out face fit testing to ensure that your face mask fits correct and is keeping you protected.
