I ended up shaving mine off during lockdown (and have regretted it ever since) but it makes the masks fit better. — Michael Wilson
A little bit of Vaseline creates good seal for beard owners I found back in the day,Derek- worked fine with a gas mask on in a sealed chamber with CS gas canister activated to provide an incentive to achieve a good seal :smile: An old Navy trick.Hence the reason that you need to be clean shaven to wear disposable or reusable negative pressure respirators. — Derek Miller
Interesting, but the quotes are from WorkSafe NZ's Manager of Health, Health & Technical Services not the judge or prosecution (Scoop article). Given the number of other failings of the company I would be surprised if the prosecution got down to the detail of sealing masks with Vaseline in court - especially given there doesn't seem to be much actual research on the subject to scientifically conclude how effective Vaseline is to seal RPE with facial hair, or not, so it would most likely be seen more as a statement of opinion and a potential reasons for appeal if it had been considered when determining the sentence (I am assuming the company plead guilty).On the use of Vaseline, this from a WorkSafe prosecution just announced today: — Peter Bateman
Men usually have had two options if they had problems keeping a seal on their mask due to facial hair. The first was to shave off the beard and/or moustache. The second was to just deal with water in the mask. But we have the answer for you.
This Silicone Mask Seal helps those with facial hair, such as moustaches and/or beards, achieve a great mask seal. — Steve H
We completed our risk assessment and the biggest risk for us is the use of masks due to constantly adjusting them due to the environmental conditions, having to replace masks often and therefore touching the masks with our hands etc, so for us it would make sense not to wear masks due to barriers, curtains, not face to face, etc...but we are forced by MPI and another association to follow the guidelines for mask use — Steffan St Clair-Newman
Any chance your GMs or CEO/COO regularly meet the counterparts of the other association member companies? If you can get them to ask the question about struggling to deal with the association's mask requirements with their peers they may find that everyone is dealing with the same problem giving more weight behind the push to adapt the requirements, or alternatively maybe they find out a workable solution/alternative.its more the "Association" enforcing guidelines, but I continue to try and influence our organisation to have faith in our risk assessment and enhanced protocols. — Steffan St Clair-Newman
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