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Sourced to orderFFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 disposable masks, half masks with filters and powered respirators. Not held in stock, brought in to order — and face fit testing matters more than the box they come in.
Nothing to browse on this page, deliberately. We do not hold this category and we are not going to pad the page with photographs of things that are not the right product. Tell us what the job needs in the form below and we come back with real options, a real price and a real date.
Disposable filtering facepieces are certified to EN 149 and come in three classes by how much of the test aerosol they stop: FFP1 about 80%, FFP2 about 94%, FFP3 about 99%. FFP3 is what HSE expect for the serious respiratory hazards — silica dust from cutting, grinding or drilling masonry and concrete, lead, and most asbestos work. A surgical or face-covering mask is not RPE at all and protects the room, not the wearer.
This is the part that gets missed. Tight-fitting RPE only works if it seals to that particular face, so the law requires face fit testing for every person issued with it, and retesting if their face changes. Facial hair at the seal line breaks the seal completely — no amount of tightening fixes it. If someone cannot or will not shave at the seal, they need a loose-fitting powered hood instead.
The substance, the task, how long per shift, how many people, and whether anyone has a beard or wears glasses. That is enough for us to quote the right class and the right type rather than the cheapest box of masks.
The class is the filtering efficiency under EN 149. FFP1 filters at least 80% of the test aerosol, FFP2 at least 94% and FFP3 at least 99%. FFP3 is the class HSE expect for high-hazard dusts such as respirable crystalline silica from cutting or grinding concrete, for lead, and for most asbestos work. Class alone is not enough though — the mask also has to fit the individual's face.
For tight-fitting respiratory protective equipment, yes. COSHH and the related regulations require the employer to ensure RPE is suitable for the wearer, and HSE's position is that this means a face fit test for each person, repeated if the fit could have changed. Keep the records: an inspector asking about silica or asbestos will ask for them.
No. Facial hair crossing the seal line breaks the seal and the mask will fail a fit test, however tightly it is worn. The genuine alternatives are to be clean-shaven where the seal sits, or to use loose-fitting powered respiratory protection such as a powered hood, which does not rely on a face seal. Tightening the straps is not a fix.
A nuisance dust mask is not, and neither is FFP1 for most of it. Cutting, grinding or drilling concrete, stone, brick or mortar releases respirable crystalline silica, and the usual answer is water suppression or on-tool extraction first, with FFP3 respiratory protection as well, properly fit tested. Silica is the hazard that produces the compensation claims, so it is worth specifying properly.
A surgical or face-covering mask is designed to stop what the wearer breathes out, and is not respiratory protective equipment. A respirator is designed to protect the wearer from what they breathe in, is certified to a standard such as EN 149, and has to fit and seal. If the point is protecting the person wearing it, a mask that is not certified RPE is not doing the job.
A disposable filtering facepiece is a single-shift item at most, and less than that in heavy dust: once breathing through it becomes noticeably harder, it is loaded and finished. Treat it as consumable and budget per shift per person, not per year. Masks that are reused, stored in a van or worn round the neck between tasks are already contaminated.