What is PPE?
PPE can include items such as safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, hazmat suits, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear, safety harnesses, ear plugs, ear defenders and respiratory protective equipment (RPE). In appropriate situations disposable PPE may be provided; eg single-use coveralls. Employers have duties concerning the provision and use of personal protective equipment at work.
Healthcare workers rely on personal protective equipment to protect themselves and their patients from being infected and infecting others. But, says WHO, shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline workers dangerously ill-equipped. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, prices have surged. Surgical masks have seen a sixfold increase, N95 respirators have trebled and gowns have doubled. Supplies can take months to deliver and market manipulation is widespread, with stocks frequently sold to the highest bidder.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is equipment that will protect the user against health or safety risks at work
This can include items such as
safety helmets
ear protection
high visibility clothing
safety footwear and safety harnesses
thermal, weather and waterproof clothing
respiratory protective equipment (RPE).
As an employer, it is important that you understand your responsibilities and take steps to keep your workers and members of the public safe.
You will need to know what PPE you need to provide and what training you need to provide to employees to ensure that they use it correctly.
As an employee, you will need to understand your responsibilities for the use, storage and maintenance of your own PPE.
Types of PPE
Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE)
RPE is designed to protect the individual wearer from various hazardous substances in their workplace. There are two types of respiratory equipment.
Filters contaminated air or cleans it before it is breathed in.
Supplies clean air from an independent source.
RPE may be required for working with large amounts of
gases, vapours
dusts, powders
welding
grinders, cutter and saw use.
Face masks rely on a good seal against the face, if there are gaps in the face mask then contaminated air, dust, gases and vapors may be breathed into the lungs. For this reason it is very important your mask fits properly and is used correctly every time you use it.
Facial hair, stubble and beards make it impossible to get a good seal on the face.
For this reason you need to be clean shaven to allow a good seal around the face and prevent any leaks of contaminated air into the lungs.
There are reasons that employees may have a beard for example, religious reasons. If that is the case there are alternative options that could be introduced, such as a full hood covering the head and the face.
Hearing protection
There are three types of hearing protection.
Earmuffs/defenders that completely cover the ear.
Ear plugs that are inserted into the ear canal.
Semi inserts (also called canal caps) which cover the entrance of the ear canal.
Hearing protection must be worn by anyone who is likely to be exposed to noise at or above the Exposure Action Level set by The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005.
Head protection
There are three widely used types of head protection.
Industrial safety helmets (hard hats) which are designed to protect against materials falling from a height or swinging objects.
Industrial scalp protectors (bump caps) which are designed to protect from knocking against stationary objects.
Caps/hair nets which protect against entanglement.
Tasks where head protection may be required include
construction
building repair
work in excavations or tunnels
work with bolt driving tools
driving motorcycles.
Turban-wearing Sikhs are exempt from wearing head protection on construction sites by virtue of The Employment Act 1989 as amended by Section 6 of the Deregulation Act 2015 (external site).
Eye protection
There are several types of eye protection.
Safety spectacles: these are similar to regular glasses but have a tougher lens, they can include side shields for additional protection.
Eye shield: a frame-less one piece molded lens often worn over prescription glasses.
Safety goggles: these are made of flexible plastic frames and an elastic headband.
Face shields: heavier and bulkier than other types of eye protection, face shields protect the face, but do not fully enclose the eye so do not protect against dust, gases, fumes and mists.
Tasks where eye protection may be used include
handling hazardous substances where there is a risk of splashes
working with power driven tools where materials are likely to be propelled
welding operations
working with lasers
using gas or vapour under pressure.
Foot protection
There are a number of types of safety footwear.
Safety boots or shoes, normally have steel toe caps but can have other safety features (e.g. steel mid soles, slip resistant soles, insulation against the heat and cold.
Wellington boot can also have steel toe caps.
Anti-static and conductive footwear, these protect against static electricity.
Tasks where foot protection may be required include
construction
demolition
building repair
manual handling where the risk of heavy objects falling on the feet
working in extremely hot or cold environments
working with chemicals and forestry.
Where there is a risk of slipping that cannot be avoided or controlled by other measures, attention must be given to slip resistant soles and replaced before the tread pattern is worn.
Hand and arm protection
Hand and arm protection comes in a variety of forms.
Gloves or gauntlets (leather, latex, nitrile, plastic coated, chain mail, etc).
Wrist cuff armlets (e.g. used in glass cutting and handling).
Tasks where hand and arm protection may be required include
manual handling of abrasive, sharp or pointed objects
working with vibrating equipment such as pneumatic drills and chainsaws
construction and outdoor work
working with chemicals and hazardous substances such as body fluids
working in hot or cold materials or temperatures.
In order to eliminate the risk of ill health through exposure to latex a number of organisations have phased out the use of latex gloves and replaced them with nitrile.
Body protection
Types of body protection include
overalls, aprons and coveralls (protection against hazardous substances)
clothing for hot, cold or bad weather
clothing to protect against machinery
high visibility (jackets, trousers and vests)
harnesses
life jackets.
Tasks where body protection may be required include
working with hazardous substances
working next to the highway or areas with moving transport and vehicles (e.g. construction sites)
outdoor, forestry and ground maintenance work.
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