National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Project To Address Respirator Effectiveness When Using a Beard Band

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has announced a project to determine how well respirators provide protection to workers with facial hair when using an under-respirator cover (beard band).

The problem

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that respirators be fit-tested to the wearer’s face to achieve a tight seal to the face. Facial hair may interfere with this tight seal. For this reason, OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard 29 CFR 1910.134(g)(1)(i)(A) currently prohibits employees from wearing respirators with tight-fitting facepieces if there is any hair growth between the skin and facepiece sealing surface.

Some workers do not shave facial hair, and some have religious, cultural or medical reasons for doing so, which can make compliance with OSHA’s facial hair requirement for respirator use difficult.

The response

The NIOSH project on respirator effectiveness with workers with facial hair when using a beard band will address this situation.

The project will be conducted between NIOSH and respirator manufacturers, NIOSH approval holders, and beard band manufacturers. These stakeholders may volunteer to participate in the testing through collaborative agreements with NIOSH using a government-private partnership development model.

Potential outcomes

1. The outcomes of this study may have a significant impact on respiratory protection programs and related policies for many public safety agencies, especially fire departments that use these respirators routinely.
2. Results of this project may be used by NIOSH approval holders to seek NIOSH approval for the use of beard bands as part of an approved respirator configuration. This will allow for an increase in respiratory protective devices available to workers with beards and the ability to accommodate workers who do not shave for religious, cultural or medical reasons.