Safety experts ARCO urge construction workers to get ‘face-fit’ tested

Safety equipment suppliers Arco are urging construction workers to get ‘face-fit’ tested in the fight against lung cancer.

As part of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Arco has made a £3,000 donation to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation to help fund future research, and is urging construction employers to get their workforce kitted out with a professionally fitted face mask to minimise the risk of contracting lung disease by breathing in deadly asbestos and silica dust.

In 2015, approximately 3,500 will die from cancer caused by past exposures to asbestos, 500 more from silica dust, while another 5,500 will be diagnosed with occupational cancer.

As people’s faces all differ in shape and size, it is unlikely that one particular type or size of face mask will fit every individual, therefore face-fit testing is available to check that the equipment selected is suitable for the wearer.

Arco’s respiratory services manager, Kevin Williams, said:

“You wouldn’t submerge a diver under water with a leaking mask, so why do we send construction workers into potentially deadly breathing conditions every day?

Arco now has the largest mobile Fit2Fit accredited face fit testing team in the UK so can conduct testing on an organisation’s site dramatically reducing the amount of employee down time involved attending a testing centre.”

Find out more about Arco’s safety resources here.