facial hair?

and no Coke-Nails ........

 

Hmmm I'll hafta clip my pinky nails, then.

 

I think most companies allow facial hair on the condition that the driver be willing to shave if a customer demands it. I pull a chemical tank with a beard, and in four years I have only had to shave maybe three times. Each time I was told about the requirement before being dispatched to that customer. Then again, less than half our loads are hazmat, but it seems that at most places that have facial hair bans it's a plant-wide policy, not a narrow requirement for picking up or delivering one specific chemical.

 

Is it a safety issue? My buddy is a firefighter in Arlington, TX and they have to be "clean shaven" due to masks not being able to seal fully with a beard. I'd assume Chem plants might have the same requirements for emergency respirator gear.

 

When I was hired, I had to do the leak test with the respirator (I have a short well trimmed beard). If I could smell the stinky stuff, I didn't have a good seal and the beard had to go. Well I still have it, and no shipper has ever said to shave (full disclosure....I don't really haul loads that require it's use....1 in 2.5 years). But I get the rule if you're like ZZTop type furred. If the company demands that I shave it,, I guess I will unless I'm ready to quit for a different reason. But not without an argument.

 

Yes, of course it is a safety issue. But while certain face shapes are easy to use a mask on, others are not. If your face is shaped "right?" you can probably get away with a short beard while wearing a mask. But if your face is "shaped wrong!" you will have to shave it off. And even then, there are people who are hard to fit masks to.

 

Wonder how this works with Sihk drivers? I remember reading about a Sihk police officer(I believe in New York) who won a religious discrimination lawsuit when he decided to grow out his beard. And I believe the Army had to allow a few Sihk Soliders to grow out that beards as well.

 

The Army has officers dressing like women too. They've been taken over by Marxism.

 

If it's a safety issue, they probably get refused unless they agree to shave. I know the steel plant I visit doesn't like them just resting hardhats on their dastar (the turban).

It's probably why you don't see many Sikh's pulling tankers.