The World Health Organization (WHO) on 3rd May 2009 Interim guidance titled “Advice on the use of masks in the community setting in Influenza A (H1N1) outbreaks” stated clearly that “If masks are worn, proper use and disposable is essential to ensure they are potentially effective and to avoid any increase in risk of transmission associated with the incorrect use of masks” The Interim Guidance also stated that “Using a mask incorrectly however, may actually increase the risk of transmission, rather than reduce it”.
If you have decided to wear face mask or respirator to protect yourself from the risk of influenza transmission, you must understand the correct use of the masks.
Although there is no sufficient evidence proving that wearing face masks will protect one from the influenza virus, WHO and CDC recommended either a medical or surgical face mask, or a N95 or FFP2 respirator mask.
Not all single-use face masks are labeled as medical or surgical mask. I prefer the 3-ply non-woven face mask that is made of synthetic fibrous materials. They are used as surgical mask and as clean room mask. Most of them are sold in pack of 50 pieces each with a pair of elastic ear loop bands or non-elastic head tie. 3-ply mask has 3 filtration layers and therefore could be more effective in filtering and preventing droplets or mists from reaching the nose and mouth. The non-woven mask is more resistant to tear when wet or moist as compared to the paper mask. 3-Ply mask can be green, blue or white in color. Color does not matter.
The 1-ply and 2-ply paper face mask are sold in box of 100 pieces. They are made of paper material and are easily torn especially when it is wet or moist by mist.
Beside these, there are the cloth masks made of cloth materials. Many of them are home made. Their effectiveness as facemasks against droplets or mists is doubtful. Most of them are multilayer and they must be frequently laundry-washed.
Wearing a 3-ply medical or surgical facemask is recommended when you are going to a public or crowded area where there is potential danger of influenza contamination. WHO guidance is keeping a safe distance of at least 3 to 5 feet away from anyone who you may want to keep a distance in whatever form of social contact.
If you are going to help or take care of some one who is having symptoms of influenza infection, you need a N95 or FFP2 respirator mask.
N95 is an American standard measuring the efficiency of a mask in filtering particulates while FFP2 is a European Standard. Although there are many masks in the market labeled as N95 or FFP2 masks, there are basically 2 types of particulate mask – the pre-molded round shape mask and the foldable mask.
I prefer the foldable FFP2 respirator mask as it has a better facial seal than the pre-molded round shape mask. The foldable mask, when not in use, can be folded up and kept in pocket or handbag (lady) not only tidy and handy but also keeping the inner surface of the mask clean. You can not fold a pre-molded round shape mask. Most people hang the mask on their neck exposing the inner surface of the mask to contaminants.
Wearing a face mask or respirator may not protect you from influenza unless you use it correctly.
1. You must wash clean your hand before wearing a mask. In critical time or environment, it is best to wash your hands using antibacterial hand soap dispensed by an automatic hand soap dispenser to avoid contamination. If you can not wash your hands or can not find a place to do so, you can use alcohol based hand disinfectant.
Single use face mask and respirator mask are not for long hours wearing. Their effectiveness against particulates or droplets filtration decreases as they are moist by our perspiration and moist air we breathed in and out through the mask. They should be change frequently and every time we sneeze or cough. When some one sneezed or coughed beside you at close distance and you believed that your mask is likely contaminated, you should leave and take off you mask. Seal the used mask in a plastic bag and dispose it according to local authorities’ instruction. Wash your hand with water and soap after disposal of used mask.
Do not put on a new mask onto your face without washing your hands clean with water and hand soap. Otherwise, you will contaminate the new mask before you put it on. Wearing a contaminated mask around will help spreading the influenza virus. Do wash clean your hands or disinfect your hands using a disinfectant before taking and putting on a new clean mask.
2. Donning of mask – follow these procedure to properly fit a mask on your face.
You must wear the face mask or respirator correctly covering both your nose and mouth. It is not uncommon seeing that people covered only their mouth leaving the nose expose. That is wrong. You may argue that people are doing so because they feel hot when using the mask. This is true because you are breathing in and out from the same mask and there is always some exhaled air trapped in the mask You in fact breath in back some of the exhaled air before it leaves the mask. You must sacrifice certain degree of comfort for the sake of safety.
Don the same way for face mask and respirator mask. Do not touch the inner surface of the mask when you put it on or when you take it down for disposal.
Single use face mask and respirator mask can never give you a perfect facial seal. There are always some leakages from the sides of the mask. Proper fitting of face mask by moving and pressing your fingers around to conform the mask to the contour of your face may reduce leakage.
Remember, wearing correctly a face mask or respirator is important although it does not give you a sure protection against influenza virus. Combining this with personal hygiene such as washing or disinfect hands frequently and whenever necessary will, however, help reduce spreading of the infectious pathogen.
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The five flu-safety steps recommended by CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.) are:
In addition to the CDC’s 5 flu-safety tips, I carry with me a flu-safety pack wherever I go, to protect me from infected. The safety pack carries the following items:
When I go to a crowded place where I may get flu virus, I shall wear the 3 ply surgical mask. I shall follow my mask changing rule (please read my articles on how to wear mask) whenever I need to change my mask. I believe 4 pieces should be enough for one day at the moment.
If I am going to have a close proximity contact with a sick person (He could be a family member, friends, relatives or may be someone I do not know), I will put on the respiratory mask. The foldable ATEM 3022 FFP2 masks will allow me to carry them in my bag without damaging them.
When there is no hand washing facilities or it is inconvenient to wash hands, I will use the hand disinfectant to disinfect my hands before I put on a new mask or whenever necessary. A 100ml press cap spray bottle of P70 liquid disinfectant will be sufficient for a day’s work.
I shall discard the mask I wear before I come home to avoid bring home the virus.
The next day, before I go out again, I shall make sure that my flu-safety pack is replenished accordingly.
Don’t you think you should do the same?
The flu-safety pack I carry wherever I go to protect myself from flue infection:
4 pcs of 3 ply mask
2 pcs of ATEM 3022 FFP2 foldable respiratory mask
One bottle of 100ml press cap bottle P70 disinfectant
Where to buy the flu-safety pack? Contact us through our contact form here.
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You are the owner of a factory and have spent money buying Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as safety spectacles, goggles, earplug, earmuff, respirators etc but still find that the safety standard of your factory is not improving because the workers do not use them in a satisfactory manner.
You feel that money spent was not justified because your workers are just too reluctant to use them even though you have told them to use them properly for their protection.
Do you wonder why?
The main reason, as I see it, is that you do not have a written safety programme for your factory. Without a written programme, you, your company, your management and the end users – your workers, are not committed to improve the safety standard of your factory and for the sake of their safety and health.
You may have trained the workers when issuing them the PPE but such training soon are forgotten and you find most of the PPE issued is out of their proper places. It is not uncommon finding that wrong cartridges or filters are used on the respirators for the protection required. Asking the users why and the answers are always “I do not know”, or “They just give me these so I use them”.
Question: Can all these be eliminated so that everybody involved will be happy about using PPE?
Answer: YES. It can be done provided you do take the trouble to write you own safety programme.
Question: Your next question could then be – I do not know how to write a safety programme and I do not want to pay a large sum of money for someone else to write one for me. Consultant fee is expensive.
Answer: In fact, you can write you own safety programme if you want to and you do not have to ask a consultant to do that for you. An experienced sales person on PPE should be able to help you with all the information you need to write the programme.
It is within our package of supply and service that when we deliver PPE to our customers, we would like to make sure that they know how to use them properly. The safety programme will normally be introduced to them during the product training and it is up to the management to decide what to incorporate into their safety programme.
Such training is free of charge for our customers if you are operating in Kuching, Sarawak or somewhere near. You can contact us for more information about our service.
At the meantime, you may check on our website for more articles on safety programme from time to time.
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