Reusable half masks are a bigger investment than disposables and they last for years — which makes it worth knowing, once, that each one actually fits the person wearing it.
A reusable facepiece in rubber, silicone or TPE covering the nose and mouth but not the eyes, with replaceable filter cartridges — bayonet or screw fitting. Typical models are the 3M 6000 and 7500 series, the Moldex 7000 and 8000, the JSP Force 8 and the Sundström SR100. All of them seal against the skin, so all of them require a fit test.
If the facepiece covers the eyes as well, that is a full face mask and it needs a quantitative test instead — we cannot help with those, and we will say so on the phone rather than on your site.
Half masks are tested qualitatively, the same taste-test method used for disposables and equally valid under HSE INDG479 for this class of RPE. Hood on, test solution nebulised in, seven one-minute exercises. No taste means a pass. The full procedure is set out here, and this page explains why half masks do not need the quantitative method.
Retest when anything changes. A half mask fit test covers that person on that make, model and size. Change the model, change the size, or change the face — significant weight loss or gain, dental work, facial surgery or injury — and the test needs doing again. Many principal contractors also want to see a test dated within the last two years.
A same-day PDF certificate per person recording the wearer, the mask make, model and size, the method, the result and the date. Plus, in practice, a team who now know how to put their own masks on properly, which is worth more than the paperwork.
Spray painting and coatings, stonemasonry and worktop fabrication, welding and fabrication, demolition and soft strip, joinery workshops, agriculture and grounds maintenance, laboratories and pharmaceutical production, waste and recycling, and maintenance teams working with solvents or paints.
Yes. A half mask seals against the skin, so under COSHH the employer must ensure it fits the wearer, and a fit test is how that is demonstrated.
Yes. Test the mask as it is used, with the cartridges or filters normally in place, because they affect the weight and how the facepiece sits on the face.
No. The test is valid only for the make, model and size tested. Someone who uses both a half mask and disposable FFP3s needs testing on both.
No. Full face masks can only be tested using a quantitative method, which we do not offer. We will tell you this before booking rather than after.
Re-test on any change of mask type, model or size, and after significant weight change, dental work or facial injury. Many principal contractors ask for a re-test every two years as good practice.
£45.00 per person. Same-day certificates. Group booking discounts for five or more on one visit. Emergency call-outs answered 24 hours.