Effective even with facial hair
March 1st 2008

Tests carried out by BSI Product Services for Cam Lock, a supplier of breathing apparatus and related life support systems, have proved the extremely high protection afforded by the Cam Lock FASTmask with Cowl which remains 100% effective when used by persons with facial hair.

As part of the development of the mask, Cam Lock had to ensure compliance with a range of complex standards, including EN529:2005, which assigns protection factors for the effectiveness of the product in preventing the ingress of foreign substances.

For assistance in interpreting the standards, Cam Lock needed the services of a recognised independent authority. It selected BSI Product Services, knowing that in addition to having the required expertise relating to standards and PPE, the organisation had the test facilities needed to verify the product performance.

For positive pressure breathing apparatus, EN529 requires a maximum assigned protection factor of 2000. In independent tests carried out by BSI Product Services the Cam Lock FAST-mask with Cowl achieved a factor of 1.6 million. In addition, BSI Product Services was able to verify that the product achieved the recorded performance at an average breathing rate of 60L/min of air, a requirement of many fire brigades that find the 40L/min specified by the standard to be inadequate. It also verified that the performance of the mask was entirely unaffected by facial hair.