Occ-COVID Year 5: Managing Mask Madness – Benefits, Challenges & Solutions

A key tool in the fight against aerosol hazards, but much maligned and misunderstood. Review latest research, controversy & new CSA standard

Covid has waned again after a seasonal surge, yet other respiratory diseases are hanging on, and the next variant climb might be just around the corner. The pandemic certainly is not over, and continues to impact workplaces large and small. Masks and respirators have been key tools in worker protection and infection control for decades, yet they have become objects of ridicule and extensive mis-information.

They remain important for personal protection and source control, and we need to understand their efficacy and use parameters to maximize their effectiveness in our illness prevention toolkit.

Join new guest, Dr. Mark Ungrin (an interdisciplinary biomedical researcher and associate professor at the University of Calgary) as he frames his Scientific American opinion piece: Masks Work. Distorting Science to Dispute the Evidence Doesn’t, the latest research supporting respirator value in illness prevention and the challenges we face in implementing them as an effective control amidst the noise and fatigue.

Then welcome back popular past speaker, respirator scientist Dr. Simon Smith, as he introduces the draft of CSA Standard Z94.4 Selection, use and care of respirators (New Edition) that is currently posted for public comment. It has been updated to incorporate insights from the Covid experience, and is open for feedback until Monday, March 18th. Learn about the fundamentals of the standard, the key proposed changes, its application to workplaces and then provide input if you so desire.

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