Beards and tight fitting RPE has been discussed countless times, with the age old rule stating that if you are required to wear tight fitting RPE, then you should be clean shaven. I can understand why, as the mask requires a tight 'seal' to the face and is achieved by fitting tight to the skin. However, in practice this is generally not practical.

I have found it very challenging when taking up members of staff about wearing RPE and not shaving for days/weeks or even years. I have found staff not wanting to shave for medical or personal reasons, with some preferring to swap jobs rather than shave every day. Th 'fix' appears to only offer either shave or wear a loose fitting respirator and upwards of £300 each. Again this is challenging from a business POV as the cost of half mask is around £30. Staff reluctant to share RPE with cleaning material provided. So i see both sides of the argument, but surely there is a cost effective practical way to manage the risk and achieve a tight sealfor a few minutes use??

To challenge the age old rule of 'must be clean shaven' and to avoid huge expense for 5-10 minutes of use of RPE per day, i have fouind research studies from Australia that use an elastic band 'beard cover'. Essentially a wide resistance band that covers the beard tight to the users face and in theory provides a smooth surface that is simlar to skin for the RPE to 'seal'.

In summary, the research report was able to achieve a first time Portacount fit test on 86 out of 87 (99%). Based on this, surely if we can achieve this control using the cost effective soultion, keeping staff happy with beards and training, we can push to challenge the ACOP that requires clean shaven or loose fitting masks?

Below video shows the demonstration

Beard Cover Technique - Elastic Band

Research Report:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372309322_Prospective_comprehensive_evaluation_of_an_elastic-band_beard_cover_for_filtering_facepiece_respirators_in_healthcare_workers

Interested to read your thoughts or to see if you have also come up against this.

For the FFP2 mask they passed but for the FFP3 it dropped significantly...droplets are different to some of the vapours that we are trying to protect the guys from...it also says more research needed...I am not sure I would base my protection strategy on this (unless of course it is purely healthcare then it is a consideration - not a rule). I would be making sure that my hygiene monitoring supported the argument...

Thank you all for the comments so far. The aim was to provoke a discussion around a topic that is quite troublesome in my role.

I really think the user manual and the HSE guidnace was written at the time of only being able to achieve a tight fit by being clean shaven. The elastic band method surely could provoke specific HSE research by themselves and challenge their own ACOP.

The aim of wearing the RPE is to protect the user from harmful effects of the substance. In my current topic this is wood dust. I have not trailled this method, but if it was to acheive the acceptable pass rate on a portacount face fit, then surely the objective has been achieved and tight seal has been achieved.

I agree with all that just relying on this method alone probably would not stand up. Probably would be uncomfortable for prolonged periods, however, should really only be used 1hr at a time anyway. I do think it warrents further detailed research by the HSE. It could really be a cost effective solution that keeps everyone happy and safe.

This approach looks to need a full (and fully compressable) beard along with a standard face shape and beard coverage.

Some people can be so hirsute it is hard to tell where their beard ends and chest hair begins.

Some have soft downy peach fuzz whilst others have a face that will give a steel brush a run for its money.

Society will always have different physical features both natural, and in consequence of illness or injury.

We really need to step away from trying to make the employee fit the PPE / RPE by either eliminating the hazard or through suitable engineering control measures.

Latest issue is the "new asbestos" of silicosis affecting kitchen fitters.

This is not about face masks not working if you have a beard, it is about consistency.  It might be possible to test and fit a mask on someone with a beard but a couple of days later that beard would be a bit longer or had been trimmed and the initial fitting is no longer valid. If you insist that they are clean shaven then face fit should be closer to consistency.