Date: 202102
Aircraft: No Aircraft
Operator: Air Carrier
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Technician
Human factors: Distraction; Physiological - Other; Situational Awareness
Anomaly: No Specific Anomaly Occurred Unwanted Situation
Detector: Person Maintenance
Result: General None Reported / Taken
Contributing factors: Company Policy; Environment - Non Weather Related
Primary problem: Company Policy

Narrative: Due to the nature of wearing a mask due to COVID-19; it contributes to a couple safety concerns.  It is a matter of time before there is a serious injury or damage due to the policy of wearing a mask the entire time while on airport property.  I have been involved in a couple of close calls and have seen issues with my coworkers as well.First off; the communication issues.  We already have issues with radio communication and I know there have been reports filed in the past for this.  However; now there is another issue involving the wearing of masks and trying to understand what the person is trying to say.  The voice is usually muffled or broken up and hard to understand.  Most of the time requiring the person receiving the transmission to ask the other person to either repeat or in some cases just misunderstands the call.  Throw in the inherent environmental noises from jet engines or air conditioning packs and other loud noise; communication becomes very difficult at times.  As you can imagine; this can easily become a safety issue especially in times of urgency or clearing of flight control movement or other tests and engine runs. Second; visual impairment.  The wearing of masks impairs your line of sight looking down.  In order to actually see the ground in front of your feet; you need to actually bend your neck down to move your head to see and while you are looking down with your head down; then that is when you end up walking into something.  You are unable to just look down.  The obstruction has caused many trips due to the obstacles of power cords; tow bars; tools; steps on ladders; walking in cargo pits; and weather related issues; such as ice and snow.  These are just a few of the most common items; but the list is endless.Also; when wearing safety glasses or prescription glasses or sunglasses; there is the issue of them constantly fogging up.  Especially in colder weather.  This just compounds the issue with not being able to see what is in front of your feet.The easiest and fastest way to fix this is to not require the wearing of masks.   Maybe only wear a mask while stationary and unable to social distance as long as it doesn't affect your job.  TSA does give an option to not have to wear a mask if it is a safety concern as stated in the TSA website for the Executive Order. So my suggestion is to make the determination that due to a safety risk; the safety guidelines need [to] be changed to make masks optional on the individuals choice; depending on the job he or she is involved in due to the reasons stated above.




Synopsis: Maintenance Technician reported safety concerns related to the having to wear a face mask while performing job duties on airport property and suggested the requirement guidelines should be revisited.