The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is warning companies against the use of light-duty ‘nuisance’ dust masks for protection against hard or softwood dust. It says they are not up to the task.
The watchdog is asking for the products to be voluntarily withdrawn from sale as part of its campaign to reduce respiratory diseases such as occcupational asthma. Although HSE cannot prohibit their sale, it says it will enforce against employers who issue nuisance dust masks inappropriately when properly accredited industrial respirators should be used.
The HSE says the cheaper ‘nuisance’ masks “perform badly” and do not have to meet basic health and safety requirements. It urges the use of approved CE-marked disposable respirators instead.
