Due to the limited supply of disposable respiratory protective equipment (RPE), hospitals in the UK are no longer insisting on appropriate fit tests of FFP3 face masks for doctors and nurses before they begin treating patients infected with COVID-19.
Such tests are crucial to ensure the masks are of the correct size and appropriately fitted to the face to prevent the virus pass the mask through gaps around the face, and reach the wearer's nose and mouth.
Health and Safety guidelines specify, that anyone using a disposable respirator, such as FFP3 mask, should always have a fit test before they begin work with that type of equipment. However, due to the issue with the shortage of protective masks, hospitals cannot guarantee a supply of the same type of masks that have been used in the testing process, which often would require new fit tests for every type of disposable respirator received.
Some NHS trusts are telling staff to carry out a fit check to see if masks have any gaps around the face, which involves checking the seal of the RPE by covering the filter, breathing in and making sure the mask sucks in. The practice of not properly carrying out fit tests might not be enough to protect the employee from exposure.
Fit testing is a requirement under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations SI 2002/2677 and must be conducted every time a new model of tight-fitting RPE is used. It must be conducted by a competent person appointed by the employer, using a qualitative or quantitative method of detecting the leakage in the mask. It must be carried out every time there is a change in RPE (a new model used), or change in wearer's circumstances (facial hair, weight loss or gain, change to the face structure).
The qualitative method relies on wearer's subjective assessment of any leakage through the seal by detecting the bitter or sweet-tasting aerosol used for testing, while quantitative testing provides a numerical measure of how well a mask seals against the wearer's face.
Fit checking should be carried out by the employee or wearer of the RPE each time they put it on, once a fit-test on that model of the device has been carried out.
The Health and Safety Executive have published a press release on fit testing of face masks to avoid transmission during the coronavirus outbreak.
Full information on that can be found here.
For more information on this subject, see:
