While Wearing PPE

The following guidelines should be following once you’ve properly donned your PPE:

• Avoid touching your mask or eye protection unnecessarily. This can be an unconscious behaviour that takes practice to unlearn, as people tend to touch their faces multiple times per hour without realizing it. If you must touch or adjust your mask or eye protection, perform hand hygiene on your gloved hands immediately after¹
• If you see a colleague touch or adjust their mask and/or eye protection, remind them to perform hand hygiene¹
• Do not dangle your mask under your chin, around your neck, off the ear, under the nose, or place on top of your head,² even if it makes communicating and talking more challenging
• If your mask becomes soiled during the care of a patient, remove it immediately and replace it with a new one
• Some people experience skin irritation from continuous, extended and repetitive use of PPE. Strategies are available to prevent or manage skin damage,³ but it is the responsibility of each HCW to verify with their institutional Infection Control or Workplace Health teams that any measures taken to prevent or manage PPE-related skin injuries do not interfere with the efficacy of PPE or contradict any workplace policies³