- The Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, has published Specification UNE 0064-1, which establishes the minimum requirements that hygienic masks must comply with in terms of the materials used for their design, manufacture, marking and use.
- This is the result of joint work with the Ministries of Health; Industry, Trade and Tourism; Consumer Affairs, Work and Social Welfare, in addition to private entities (textile manufacturers, laboratories and technological centres), constituting a public-private partnership model.
- It is a key specification to facilitate the mass production of masks, and will be available free of charge to all of society. These masks will offer citizens a protective barrier against the COVID-19 pandemic, providing indications on how to wear them and remove them correctly.
9 April 2020. The Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, has published Specification UNE 0064-1, which establishes the minimum requirements that hygienic masks must comply with in terms of the materials used for their design, manufacture, marking and use. It is a key specification to facilitate the mass production of masks in the necessary volume, and will be available free of charge to all of society. The Specification can be downloaded from the UNE website.
The drafting of UNE Specification 0064-1 Single use hygienic masks for adults. Material requirements, design, manufacture, marking and use was participated in by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism; the Ministry of Health (Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Products); The Ministry of Consumer Affairs; the Ministry of Work and Social Welfare (National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety); CIE; TEXFOR; INDITEX, FENIN; AITEX; LEITAT; EURECAT; ASEPAL, ibV and the Official College of Industrial Engineers of Madrid all participated in the drafting of the UNE Specification 0064-1.
These masks, manufactured in accordance with the UNE Specification, will offer protection to citizens from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Specification provides instructions on how to wear them and remove them correctly.
In a joint venture that is unprecedented in Spain. Due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and the high demand for protective barrier systems and products, it has been considered necessary to draw up a document with the minimum requirements that hygienic masks must comply with. This initiative becomes relevant in view of the fact that hundreds of companies are making an extraordinary effort in the production of protective material for the fight against coronavirus; some companies already manufacture these products, but for many, it is a new initiative.
The single use hygienic mask described in the UNE Specification 0064-1 is the first in a series and is intended for use by adults without symptoms who are not susceptible to wearing surgical masks or filter masks for protection against particles, according to the measures established in the technical document "Prevention and control of infection in the management of patients with COVD-19" published by the Ministry of Health. For example, for people who have to go out to the street for work-related reasons, to reduce the risk of being unable to maintain social distancing.
This Specification does not apply to surgical masks that must comply with Standard UNE-EN 14683: 2019+AC: 2019; nor to filtering half-masks for protection against particulates that must comply with Standard UNE-EN 149: 2001+ A1:2010.
The list of Spanish manufacturers that provide the tissues recommended in the document can be found on website of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
Work has already begun on the specifications for children's masks, as well as on reusable hygienic masks, which will be published shortly, meanwhile the AFNOR specification, with a link included, can be considered as a reference (https://www.afnor.org/actualites/coronavirus-telechargez-le-modele-de-masque-barriere/).
