Prevent interference with a respirator seal
A tight-fitting respirator only protects you if it seals against your face. Nothing is allowed to come between the respirator and your skin where it seals.
What interferes with an effective seal
Anything that comes between a tight-fitting respirator and your skin where it seals is an interference. This creates room for contaminants to enter the mask.
Examples include:
- Facial hair, including stubble, beards, and sideburns
- Hair from the head
- Facial piercings
- The arms of eyeglasses
- Head coverings, cloth, straps, or tissue
- Beard covers or bands, and creams or gels, such as petroleum jelly
These rules don’t apply to loose-fitting respirators, like hoods and helmets. You can wear loose-fitting respirators with some facial hair and with glasses.
When you put on a tight-fitting respirator
Make sure nothing interferes with the seal before you put it on. This may mean you:
- Shave before your shift in the spots where the respirator seals to your face.
- Remove jewellery, like lip or face piercings.
- Keep your hair and any head covering away from the seal.
Then do a user seal check. Refer to How to do a seal check.
You can’t wear regular glasses under a full-facepiece respirator. The arms break the seal. If you need glasses to work safely, your employer must provide you with special eyewear, such as prescription lens inserts that fit inside the facepiece.
Your employer may allow you to wear contact lenses with a respirator if they’re unlikely to affect your health or safety. If you wear them:
- Tell your employer.
- Put on your respirator in air that doesn’t irritate your eyes.
- Don’t wear contact lenses when your eyes are irritated or inflamed.
If you need medical or religious accommodations
If you can’t remove facial hair, head coverings, or something else that may interfere with a respirator’s seal for religious or medical reasons, talk to your employer or supervisor.
Your employer needs to meet their health and safety duties and their duties under B.C.’s Human Rights Code.
The safety requirement stays the same: nothing can interfere with the seal of a tight-fitting respirator.
Your employer may be able to provide you with these options:
- A loose-fitting respirator, such as a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) with a hood or helmet, if it gives enough protection for the hazard and the level of exposure
- Other ways to reduce your exposure to permissible levels
- Different work, if no respirator option is suitable
WorkSafeBC doesn’t administer the Human Rights Code. If you have questions about your rights, contact the BC Human Rights Tribunal or get legal advice.
Related resources
Breathe Safer: How to Use Respirators Safely and Start a Respirator Program
This book provides information on how to use respirators to protect workers from breathing hazards. Written for employers, supervisors, and workers, the book covers:
- Types of breathing...
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Please note: The content on this page is intended to help you understand and meet the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. More detailed information can be found in the OHS Guidelines and/or OHS Regulation.