A person who is raising funds to provide respirators to volunteer firefighters wrote and asked:

I’ve been crowd funding for masks for the volunteers. I bought them the best masks that meet all AUSnz standards.

There are posts circulating saying that if the masks are used, without approval from the RFS, ppl will not be eligible for compensation.

Please help me. I’ve handed out four hundred masks and intend on issuing one to every volunteer.

I’ve got my facts on masks now. I just need the laws

My response was to direct my correspondent to an earlier post – Choosing your own PPE (June 5, 2019).  They then came back to me with this question:

Can they force them to not wear the masks? When they were buying them individually there was no drama. Now it’s a big deal because we are handing them out?

I’ve deleted the original content of this post and the comments that followed.  I’ve received conflicting advice about the risks or otherwise of respirators other than RFS issued P2 masks, as well as conflicting advice of the position of the RFS.  In the circumstances there is no question I can answer nor any helpful contribution I can make.

Firefighters and donors should be guided by the RFS.  The latest RFS advice is below.  It follows that the RFS does not purport to ban the masks or prohibit volunteers wearing masks they have bought or received.

RFS on face masks