| Topic: Respiratory protective equipment – Clean shaven | Issued by: VP WorkSafe Services |
| Statute: General Regulation 91-191 | Date Issued: December 11, 1998 |
| Section: 47 | Date Revised: April 30, 2024 |
47 An employee who may be required to use respiratory protective equipment shall, for the purpose of ensuring that the equipment fits effectively, cooperate with any person identified in the code of practice referred to in section 45 and, if a tight fit is essential to the proper functioning of the equipment, be as clean shaven as is necessary to ensure an effective seal to the facial skin of the employee.
Question:
What does “clean-shaven” mean? How clean-shaven does a worker have to be?
Answer:
The Oxford Dictionary defines “clean-shaven” as being “without beard, whiskers, moustache.”
The purpose of the requirement to be clean-shaven is to attain a perfect seal of the respiratory equipment against the face. The fit is important to keep contaminants out. Since respiratory equipment is often required in emergency situations where there is not time to do repeated fit tests, WorkSafeNB advises employers, supervisors and employees that an employee should be freshly clean-shaven when performing any work that may require a respirator for the task or for rescue.