[MCOH-EH] Facial hair and respirators

Winters, Tom (BIDMC - Occupational Health) twinters at bidmc.harvard.edu
Fri Jul 8 11:07:46 PDT 2022


We provide same recommendation as Amy at BILH, BCH, DFCI and BU National Emerging Infectious Disease Lab. all in Boston.

   Tom Winters
________________________________
From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net> on behalf of Behrman, Amy <behrman at pennmedicine.upenn.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 8, 2022 11:35 AM
To: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh at mylist.net>
Cc: McKenna, Patrick <Patrick.McKenna at nationwidechildrens.org>
Subject: [External] Re: [MCOH-EH] Facial hair and respirators

Great visual!

Our approach is to make PAPRs freely available to staff who prefer facial hair styles that would interfere with a seal, along with education about what styles will be problematic.  My concern is that if we required anyone to be clean-shaven (or more shaven) for fit testing, they might well revert to their preferred style later and thereby compromise their protection. Amy

Amy J Behrman, MD, FACP, FACOEM
Division Chief, Occupational Medicine
Professor, Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
3400 Spruce St
Philadelphia, PA  19104
________________________________
From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net> on behalf of Leibu, Rachel <Rachel.Leibu at atlantichealth.org>
Sent: Friday, July 8, 2022 11:27 AM
To: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh at mylist.net>
Cc: McKenna, Patrick <Patrick.McKenna at nationwidechildrens.org>
Subject: [External] Re: [MCOH-EH] Facial hair and respirators


Hi Patrick,



They must be clean shaven at the areas of contact of the respirator.  OSHA has a chart of approved and unapproved facial hair styles.  Here is the link:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/FacialHairWmask11282017-508.pdf<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/FacialHairWmask11282017-508.pdf__;!!CvMGjuU!9gKzV1cqfS1hnxjc7gZ5hnHVKXjWAeN9zV-gcJqEL1fVdxHX674CCe4afLtsCYT8JhNMAYbLtcSylNsYO7_1lbal7xQZdtYoe2U$>



Rachel Leibu, MD, MBA, MS, FACOEM

Medical Director Occupational Medicine Services

Atlantic Health System

Clinical Assistant Professor, Sidney Kimmel Medical College

at Thomas Jefferson University



Office 973-829-4277

Cell 973-886-6708



From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces+rachel.leibu=atlantichealth.org at mylist.net> On Behalf Of McKenna, Patrick via MCOH-EH
Sent: Thursday, July 7, 2022 1:19 PM
To: mcoh-eh at mylist.net
Cc: McKenna, Patrick <Patrick.McKenna at nationwidechildrens.org>
Subject: [MCOH-EH] Facial hair and respirators



WARNING: This message originated from outside of Atlantic Health System. Any attachments or links should be carefully considered before proceeding. Messages from our business partners still need to be reviewed and should not be opened if suspicious.

Please use the report phishing button to report a questionable email.



Just taking an informal survey of the group to inquire about what policies are out there regarding facial hair for staff who might require using a respirator.



Does your institution require that staff members be clean shaven if they might need to use a respirator?

What is the policy around allowing the use of an N95 alternative, such as a PAPR?



Thanks!



Patrick McKenna, DO MPH FACOEM

Employee Health Medical Director

Nationwide Children’s Hospital

700 Children’s Drive Room  A1034

Columbus, OH 43205-2664

Office: 614-355-4135





[cid:image001.jpg at 01D892BD.AD115C60]


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mylist.net/archives/mcoh-eh/attachments/20220708/b1096442/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 10634 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <https://mylist.net/archives/mcoh-eh/attachments/20220708/b1096442/attachment-0001.jpg>


More information about the MCOH-EH mailing list