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NFPA 1404 A.6.6.2(7)
"The authority having jurisdiction should not permit respirators with tight-fitting facepieces to be worn by members who have facial hair that comes between the sealing surface of the facepiece and the face or that interferes with the valve function, or any condition"
Just a basic question with a big name; does your department allow facial hair, and if so what kind?
I worked for a VFD and we were allowed to have mustaches, goatees(that stopped just below the chin where it meets the neck), and sideburns that stopped at your chinbone. No beards or anything that would directly affect the seal on your facemask (we used scott 4.5's)And you were expected to keep everything neatly shaved no scraggly hair.
Now I'm working for a Paid department(vollie got taken over) and they are like the military (only mustaches that stop at the upper lip). Can't even keep a stubble goatee(hair just long enough to be noticeable) I'm not gripping or whinning, but I do prefer the way I look with my goatee seeing as I've had it for about 8yrs.
So what is your departments SOGs say about facial hair? TCSS
-Logue
Just a basic question with a big name; does your department allow facial hair, and if so what kind?
I worked for a VFD and we were allowed to have mustaches, goatees(that stopped just below the chin where it meets the neck), and sideburns that stopped at your chinbone. No beards or anything that would directly affect the seal on your facemask (we used scott 4.5's)And you were expected to keep everything neatly shaved no scraggly hair.
Now I'm working for a Paid department(vollie got taken over) and they are like the military (only mustaches that stop at the upper lip). Can't even keep a stubble goatee(hair just long enough to be noticeable) I'm not gripping or whinning, but I do prefer the way I look with my goatee seeing as I've had it for about 8yrs.
So what is your departments SOGs say about facial hair? TCSS
-Logue
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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Straight forward for us, notice that it goes beyond facial hair to include hair style:
SOP 11.12
1. Facial and head hair shall be maintained in accordance
with AS/NZ (Australian/New Zealand Standard) 1715-
1994. Accordingly:
1.1 Beards are not permitted. Bearded persons cannot
expect to achieve adequate respiratory protection
when wearing a facemask. Accordingly, no one shall
attempt to wear a facemask where hair from the beard
can pass between the skin and the sealing surface of
the face piece;
1.2 Moustaches must not protrude to the extent where
hair from the moustache can pass between the skin
and the sealing surface of the facemask. Moustaches
may spoil the fit of the facemask and interfere with the
peripheral seal of the facemask;
1.3 Sideburns shall not exceed below the line drawn
through the top of the tragion (the notch on the
cartilage of the ear just above and immediately in front
of the ear hole) and the canthus (corner) of the eye
(Schedule 1);
1.4 CFA members competent in the use of breathing
apparatus or who are likely to wear a facemask shall
shave daily as stubble growth, depending on length
and stiffness, interferes to some degree with proper
sealing of a facemask;
1.5 When hair is worn long, particular care should be
taken to ensure that none is trapped between the skin
and the sealing surface of the facemask. Hair that
reaches to the facial seal area must be secured at the
nape of the neck by plait, bands or net. No loose hair
strands must be able to make contact with the facial
area;
1.6 Hair is not to be bunched or plaited so as to reduce
helmet performance in any way, including interference
with the helmet adjustment mechanism, webbing or
impact test criteria.
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Permalink Reply by Just Plain Craig Moyer on
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I've had a beard for the last 10 years. I usually drive but will mask up if needed. We also have several members who have beards. We're the only company in the county to allow this. Does it go against the "rules" yes, but it hasn't been an issue yet.
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Permalink Reply by paul vance on
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Our dept states no facial hair you must be clean shaven except you can have a moustache that does not extend farther than the chin. and no 1 day stubble.
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Permalink Reply by Jenny Holderby on
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Our SOGs say exactly what 29 CFR 1910.134 says it should say. (IX-g-1.) Respirators with tight-fitting facepieces may not be worn by CSHOs who have conditions that would compromise the facepiece-to-face seal. Examples of these conditions include facial hair (e.g., beard stubble, sideburns, or beard) that interferes with the facepiece seal or valve function, absence of normally worn dentures, facial deformities (e.g., scars, deep skin creases, prominent cheekbones), or the use of jewelry or headgear that projects under the facepiece seal.
Years ago rubber masks would not form a seal if there was a certian amount of facial hair, or you wore eyeglasses, or had a small chin (even with a small mask). The new neoprene masks seem to seal much better. I know this because I have a small face AND I wear glasses & I have never broken a seal even when I tried. As far as facial hair goes, the men are not supposed to have hair other than a mustache to the corner of the mouth and/or a goatee that does not go below the chin. Some of our guys have some pretty heavy beards and a 48hr growth looks pretty scraggly. They aren't going to run home or to the restroom to shave before they go on a call.
Also in the standard (I can't find it @ the moment but it is there) it says that the wearer should do a fit check with every use. The mask should re-seal or adjustments made to allow the mask to seal.
In the past when I have commented on facial hair, I have been told that if the firefighter could not get a seal on the mask that he would shave. We did a fit check, several times. He kept the beard, BUT keeps it trimmed. The standard says "that interferes with the facepiece seal".
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan on
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Our departments SOGs require us to be clean shaven with the exception of a NEATly trimmed mustache, mainly for A)Safety and B)Professionalism. I love firefighting (and my health/life) more than I love my goatee, but man is it a bad time to go from having the facial hair to being bald on my chin, that cold wind is kicking my butt!
Thanks for the replys, I was curious as to how your departments SOGs were in relation to this.
TCSS
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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The best way to solve this is to change two things...
The first is that fit testing requires that the mask seal in negative-pressure mode when you will NEVER have negative pressure in you mask while there's a whiff of air in your SCBA cylinder. So...facial hair or not, if you can pass the negative-pressure fit test that is much more rigorous than real life, then your facial hair should be OK.
The second is that SCBA manufacturers need to develop a full-helmet and mask combo that works like scuba helmet diving systems. In other words, if the mask and the helmet are integrated, and they seal to a neck plate, then the issue of a facial seal goes away and firefighters can then wear any facial hair they'd like.
Grooming standards have nothing to do with mask seal standards - they're someone's arbitrary rules for how someone else should look, and they have no basis in firefighter safety. I'm a lot less concerned with how my fellow firefighters wear their facial hair - if any - than with how well they can perform in high-hazard zones at fire, rescue, and hazmat scenes.
Ask the Muslim, Jewish, and Mennonite firefighters that are contesting the OSHA facial hair rules based their religion's rules. Their freedom of religion should trump unnecessarily severe OSHA rules, especially when they can pass negative pressure fit tests with full beards. That tells me that the OSHA rules are "arbitrary and capricious"...and are ripe for judicial overturn.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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Our SOPs also follow the NFPA guideline. We enforce it for the most part, although there are times when members who normally don't have beards have a few days' growth of stubble on their chins. Facial hair is facial hair but it's not really a beard...
I've often wondered why, with all SCBA being of the positive pressure type, facial hair would be an issue. Perhaps it is not IDLH products filtering through into the mask, but rather breathing air leaking OUT of the mask (shortening the working time of a SCBA cylinder), which might be the bigger concern?
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Joe,
If air leaking out is an issue, then why do the OSHA standards require a negative-pressure fit test where any leak will be from the outside in? Seems to me that if clean air leaking out was the issue, then we'd be fit testing in positive pressure mode - how we actually wear them, yanno?
Either way, we have non-validated fit testing standards, because we don't fit test the masks in the same mode in which we wear them into fires.
Ben
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I agree 100% with you Ben, it's just how someone feels others should look. Is me not having my goatee going to affect my ability to work, no, maybe lower my morale just a "hair" (pun intended) but I'll get over it tomorrow or the next day. Like I said before, I love the job more than I love the hair, but if it doesn't affect the use of my SCBA then why require us to be clean-shaven? Anywho, thanks for the input.
-Logue
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Jonathan,
My paid department has the same facial hair policy as yours. We also fit test once a year with the MSA fit testing machine/computer software and the lovely rainbow passage. The question my Chief has presented some of our guys is... if he allows a goatee or limited beard, then who says on a different week/month, that it will remain the same length as when the positive fit test was performed? So instead of being a babysitter on a daily basis and not having to deal with one's who bend the rules, facial hair is out.
I would bet that there are more departments here that do not fit test per the standards annually than actually do.
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