UK construction firm bans men from sporting facial hair over safety concerns

A UK company has banned men from sporting beards on safety grounds, but critics have labelled the move as ‘penny-pinching stupidity’

A UK company has banned men from sporting beards

A BRITISH company has banned men from having beards on the grounds the fashionable facial hair could be dangerous.

Goatees “may be acceptable”, the company has said but it’s “not guaranteed”.

Construction firm Mears told staff during a so-called “toolbox talk” in London that staff had to lop off their locks so their dust masks could sit flush against their face.

It’s not gone down well with the union, who have labelled it as “penny-pinching stupidity”.

But Mears is unrepentant and said that staff going sans beard is now a nationwide policy.

In a letter addressed to “guys” the company said “operatives who work in a dusty environment — all of ours — must come to work clean shaven and able to wear appropriate dust masks effectively”.

UK firm Mears has banned the hipster facial hair favourite

It said the health and safety regulator took “a strong stance on this, as do Mears”.

Exceptions might be made for workers who could not shave for medical reasons, a dust mask could physically not be worn or if a beard was displaced for religious purposes.

“Even in [these] circumstances, this is not guaranteed,” said the note.

Obtained a letter from Mears, a major UK contractor, banning beards across the entire company cos of 'elf an safety #ukhousing pic.twitter.com/br4QIXUhDP

— Peter Apps (@PeteApps) June 1, 2017

Goatees were a possibility but only if said masks could be correctly donned over them.

Any employees who flouted the facial hair decree could be “taken down the disciplinary route.”

However Unite, a major British trade union, said Mears’ beard ban was “hair raising in its arrogance”.

Regional official for London, Mark Soave, said facial hair was “a highly delicate issue” where sensitivity should be key.

Construction sites are no place for beards, the company has said. Picture: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko.

“This is clearly a case of Mears going for the cheapest option and amounts to penny-pinching stupidity.

“Other forms of masks are available and these should be offered to existing workers,” he said.

“Unite will always put the safety of our members first and creating huge resentment and anger among your workforce is never the way forward.”

But the company is having none of it, The company’s group health and safety director, Mark Elkington said the company had a legal responsibility to ensure that employees’ safety, reported The Guardian.

“The simple fact is that no dust mask can work effectively unless it forms a seal against the skin.

“That is not possible with a beard or even heavy stubble. If the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) did a spot site visit and found workers wearing dust masks that were not sealed against the face then we would be liable to prosecution.”

The HSE do indeed recommend that dust masks may not fit properly or work as well if a bushy beard gets in the way.