Can I Have a Beard in a Cleanroom?

Is growing a beard even a good idea for men who work in laboratories and cleanrooms?

Ever since beards became fashionable again, there have been news articles swirling around claiming, variously, that beards are dirtier than dog fur, on one hand, and that beards contain less bacteria than clean-shaven chins on the other. These tend to be opinion pieces unsupported by any actual data.

When the BBC conducted some scientific tests, they found that the vast majority of the bacteria present in beards were the same ones you would expect to find on bare skin.

Whether or not you can have a beard in a cleanroom often depends on a case-by-case basis. In most cases, beards are permitted. However, you’ll need to wear a specialised beard cover for optimal hygiene. Higher-grade GMP areas may also require tighter restrictions.

Alongside beards, keep reading to discover some of the things you definitely cannot take into a cleanroom.

5 things you can’t take into a cleanroom

At the top of page one of this imaginary list of things you can’t take into a cleanroom is this simple rule: Don’t take in anything that doesn’t need to be there.

1: Personal items

Empty your pockets! Leave your personal items outside the controlled cleanroom environment – such as your keys, your cash, your wallet and, yes, even your phone.

Anything that you typically handle in the outside world that might pick up contaminants must not be brought into the cleanroom.

Or, if they are, they must stay safely concealed beneath your PPE garments.

2: Food, drink, and cigarettes

Do not eat or chew gum in a controlled environment. We hardly need to add that you can’t smoke in there, either.

However, because residual smoke particles can cling to clothing and skin, and can still be breathed out, smokers need to leave a period of up to ten minutes after finishing their smoke before entering the lab.

3: Personal grooming products

Do not wear makeup, perfume or aftershave inside your cleanroom. Since makeup can contain emulsifier oils, benzyl or cetyl alcohols, salicylic or stearic acids and preservatives like parabens or phenoxyethanol, any cosmetics are highly likely to introduce unnecessary contaminants into the cleanroom and compromise its hygienic integrity – even in labs producing cosmetics.

4: Bling

Jewellery should be removed, especially earrings, chains or bracelets that might interfere with work or become a safety issue. Any jewellery that can’t be removed needs to be covered up during your gowning procedure.

5: Illness

Clearly, given the nature of the materials you work with, it is important to be in good health when entering a cleanroom; a runny nose, a sneezing fit or an open wound could spell disaster.

So, can I have a beard in a cleanroom?

We’d be really interested to get your take on this – because all the research we’ve done leans in the direction of wearing a beard in a lab being a bad idea.

As the Microbiological Laboratory Hazard of Bearded Men study points out, the risk presented by beards cuts both ways – there is not only the risk of the beard bringing contamination into the laboratory but also the opposite danger of the beard taking pathogens out of the lab and into the world.

Washing your beard with soap and water is, of course, a good way to keep the hairs clean and reduce the levels of microorganisms and toxins present, but experiments have shown that this isn’t a completely infallible method of keeping contaminants out of the lab.

Therefore, when someone with a beard enters a controlled environment, there is an elevated likelihood of those beard-borne contaminants floating in the air or dropping onto work surfaces.

So, if you do wear a beard, you have to ensure that it is covered. Just as the hair on the rest of your body has to be covered. This needs to be either with a beard cover – basically a hairnet for your chin – or using the face covering that comes with your laboratory coverall.

Care also needs to be taken that beard hair doesn’t compromise the integrity of the seal of your facemask.

How ALLpaQ can help keep your cleanroom safe

Facial hair is just one part of a larger contamination control picture. If you want stronger cleanroom compliance, accessories can play a large role in improving standards.

Here at ALLpaQ, our cleanroom solutions include customisable biocontainers. Built on a unique double pallet base for ease of manual handling, they also open on all four sides to ensure flexibility of tube routing and ease of cleaning. And, thanks to their custom design, you can ensure that our hygienic containers fit with your workflow. They’re also easy to clean – with no awkward corners to trap residue – perfect for controlled environments.

These containers can be safely stacked to reduce their footprint in your lab and, when they’re empty, they can be collapsed to minimise wasted storage space.

If you think that a bioprocess container can help elevate your cleanroom’s efficiency, contact our team today. We’ll be in touch with indicative lead times based on your requirements and a fast quote turnaround.

Author

Niamh Allen

As a dedicated and detail-oriented Marketing Assistant, Niamh brings a strong passion for creativity and analytics to the marketing team.

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