UPDATED on 3/3/2021 with the official 3M/Scott Response…
SAFETY ALERT
Scott AV-3000 HT Facepiece
Issued February 24, 2021
The New Jersey Division of Fire Safety has received reports from several departments throughout the state regarding cracking of the polycarbonate lens component of some Scott AV-3000HT facepiece assemblies. The departments are primarily reporting initial cracks in the inlet area at the inlet port where the breathing regulator is attached. Some chipping and cracking have also been reported to “spider” further into the lens which can create a penetrable fracture of the lens thus allowing air to escape.
As of this Alert, the Division has not received any reports of injury or death resulting from the cracking described above. This cracking has not been reported to have occurred following any unexpected events where the facepiece could have been struck or crushed, or regulators/adapters forced into the inlet port. The reporting agencies have done internal checks to attempt to identify if these cracks could be due to operational misuse, improper storage, and/or broken regulators/adapters. These checks did not confirm any potential systemic causes of the cracks as of this Alert. 3M/Scott has been advised of this issue and has launched an investigation from an engineering and production perspective.
The NJ Division of Fire Safety is recommending all agencies utilizing this equipment direct their members to conduct an immediate and ongoing inspection of their facepieces, following the guidelines in the published 3M Scott User Instructions and report any negative findings to their department heads and, in turn, department heads should forward those findings for tracking purposes to Vince Campagna at [email protected]
CLICK HERE for the official pdf and pics of damaged facepieces
CLICK HERE (pdf) for 3M/Scott’s Response to the Alert…
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It was noted in our preliminary discussion with the departments that inspection and storage recommendations for the Mask-Mounted Regulator (MMR) and facepiece in our User Instructions must be observed to ensure their proper function. Of note was the practice of storing facepieces with the MMR attached when not in use. This practice is not recommended. We are aware of other agencies reporting similar concerns over the years, In those cases, each agency involved also practiced storage procedures similar to those mentioned above. We can also confirm there are no manufacturer safety notices issued on this product and the AV-3000 HT is safe for use. We remind all users of our products to observe all inspection and storage guidance and warnings in our User Instructions to ensure the proper function of their respirator components. |
