Should the balaclava be worn “tactical style” covering the mouth and nose?

Should the balaclava be worn “tactical style” covering the mouth and nose?

The NFPA 70E committee considered requiring balaclavas be defined as “covering the mouth and nose”, but the committee rejected this for several reasons.

1. To date they are not aware of any incidents of a burned mouth or nose that has occurred when a worker was wearing a balaclava, and the energy was in the range of <12 cal/cm².
2. Many tests have been done with balaclavas and face shields, and this testing showed that covering the chin area substantially raised the level of protection without covering the mouth sensor.
3. Heat stress could become more of a concern.
4. Wearing the balaclava over the nose could cause the safety glasses of the worker to fog up in certain situations.

Since the NFPA 70E committee didn’t believe that the balaclava definition should be changed, Oberon recommends wearing safety glasses, an arc rated shield, and a balaclava with the chin covered in arc flashes up to 12 cal/cm² as recommend by NFPA 70E Annex H.3. There is no guidance in OSHA 1910.269.