The Importance of Achieving a Seal – Face Fit Testing

With the dangers of occupational lung disease being a big topic when it comes to health and safety, 3B Training demonstrated why is it’s important to achieve a complete seal on your respirator mask.

We did this by physically showing why it is important that you are completely clean-shaven for your respirator mask to seal properly on your face by conducting a face fit test on 3 different facial hair types (one being clean-shaven).

This was presented in a video series that was created for our Youtube channel: The Importance of Achieving a Seal. 

Please note: the videos were made purely for demonstration purposes only and a test should be only carried out when no facial hair is present.

The first video showed a test conducted on Patryk who has a full beard. This was done to emphasise how quickly the mask can leak when you have a beard and no seal.

Patryk’s facial hair created space between the mask and his face, therefore, a seal cannot be achieved.

The second test was conducted on Simon who has a light stubble. The test will emphasise how no matter what level of facial hair you have, a seal cannot be achieved. The light stubble again created space between Simon’s face and the mask, a seal cannot be achieved.

The third and final test was conducted on Simon who this time was completely clean-shaven. The test will show the importance of being clean-shaven when wearing a respirator mask for it to work properly. Simon completed all seven exercise without tasting the face fit solution. To prove the mask created a perfect seal, Simon took his mask of then instantly tasted the solution.

If you are looking to learn how to conduct a Face Fit test yourself, why not attend one of our Face Fit Testing Workshops?

All equipment was provided by our supplier Alpha Solway.