Personal Protective Equipment - an Overview

Personal Protective Equipment

In this blog article, Mike Ellerby (LRB Consulting Limited) highlights some of the issues concerning the provision and use of personal protective equipment at work, including the duties and responsibilities of employers and employees.

Introduction

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used widely in many occupational activities and in most workplaces. PPE is diverse and includes eye and face protection; hand and arm protection; protective clothing; high-visibility clothing; foot protection and leg, head protection; hearing protection; respiratory protection; drowning protection and personal fall protection. Personal protective equipment should be considered as a last resort and not as the first port of call when protecting workers from harm.  It is, however, often used as a secondary, back up or additional control measure.

Defining Personal Protective Equipment - PPE

Personal Protective Equipment (or PPE) refers to all equipment and clothing that is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which affords protection against one or more health or safety risks. PPE includes clothing designed to protect against adverse weather conditions, aprons, gloves, safety footwear, safety helmets, high visibility jackets, eye protectors, safety harnesses, respirators, hearing protectors and life jackets.  PPE does not include items such as ordinary working clothes and work uniforms that do not offer specific personal protection (such as caterer's overalls and similar clothing provided solely in the interests of food hygiene) and does not include other items such as "rape alarms" and crash helmets or VDU filters and spectacles provided in accordance with the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992.

The provision of personal protective equipment

In certain employment situations, personal protective equipment (PPE) is provided in order to offer protection against identified risks.  The need for personal protective equipment should be identified by the risk assessment process, such as that required by Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Risk assessments carried out under other sets of regulations will also identify the need for personal protective equipment. Other regulations include:
•      The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002
•      The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999
•      The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006
•      The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH)
•      The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005
•      The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005
•      The Work at Height Regulations 2005
Further to this, the risk assessments should identify the appropriate standards that the personal protective equipment should meet.

Where personal protective equipment is required, it is the employer’s duty to provide this to the employee free of charge to their employees (Section 9 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974).  This prohibits employers from charging for any personal protective equipment required to be provided under any health and safety legislation.  Employers should make suitable arrangements by which employees can inform them of any damage to, or defects in, the PPE issued, so that PPE can be repaired or replaced as appropriate.

Enforcing the appropriate use of the personal protective equipment provided

Employers and employees both have duties and responsibilities relating to the appropriate use of PPE.  The employer has a responsibility to ensure that any PPE provided is worn as appropriate.  This duty is made clear in regulation 10 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, which states that employers must take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal protective equipment provided is used. Further to this, failure to manage the health, safety and welfare of employees, to ensure the appropriate use of control measures and adherence to policies and procedures is an infringement of Regulation 5 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.  This regulation requires employers to have effective arrangements for the management of health and safety at work.  Effective arrangements, in this context, means working and not merely notional or written, but require the employer to take positive steps to ensure their effectiveness.  This means, for example, getting managers and supervisors to enforce the appropriate use of PPE in the workplace.  This may, eventually, result in disciplinary actions being taken against persistent offenders.  It should be noted, that getting an employee to sign any form of disclaimer will not stand up to scrutiny in court, as under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 the employer has a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees so far as is reasonably practicable. 

The situation is not entirely one sided.  Employees must make appropriate use of all personal protective equipment provided, as indeed they must of all control measures identified in the risk assessment process.  In this respect, personal protective equipment is no different from any other control measure identified by the risk assessment process.  Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places a duty of employees to insure their own health and safety whilst at work; failure to wear personal protective equipment (as appropriate) is clearly a breach of this duty. Employees also have a duty under (Regulation 10 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992) to use personal protective equipment appropriately.  Employees who persist in not wearing personal protective equipment may find themselves at risk of prosecution from enforcing authorities as well as also at risk of disciplinary action from their employer.

Factors that must be considered in determining if PPE is suitable

Several factors must be considered in determining whether personal protective equipment is suitable, these include whether:

• it the equipment CE marked, as appropriate;
• it conforms to the appropriate British or European standard (see below);
• it is appropriate for, and effective against, the risks that it intended to protect against;
• it is suitable for the environment in which it is intended to be used;
• it is adjustable to fit the user comfortably and securely;
• it may be worn with all other items of personal protective equipment that are required to be worn;
• it is compatible with other pieces of personal protective equipment that also need to be worn (see below)

As the need for PPE is determined by a risk assessment process, it follows that any PPE issued should not create new risks that are greater than the risk the equipment is intended to protect against.

When more than one item of personal protective equipment is required to be used once (such as hearing protection and a safety helmet), the individual items of equipment must be compatible with each other and must not reduce the level of protection offered by each item individually.  When more than one piece of personal protective equipment must be worn at any one time consideration of compatibility should be made at an early stage and appropriate, compatible equipment should be provided.

Appropriate European standards for PPE

The following table cross references typical items of PPE against the European Standards that they should conform to.

Protection	Typical PPE	Typical European standard
Head	Helmet	EN397
Face	Visor, Face Shield	EN166
Eyes	Goggles, glasses	EN166 - F/F low energy impact B/B medium energy impact A/A high energy impact C/3 protects against chemical liquids D/4 protects against large dust particles G/5 protects against gas and fine particles M/9 protects against molten met
Ears	Hearing (ear muffs, ear plugs)	EN352
Hands	Gloves	EN388, EN374, EN407, EN420, EN511, etc.
Respiratory system	Respiratory protective equipment, such as: respirator, dust mask, etc.	Non-disposable: EN140 (EN141 – 143); Disposable: EN149 Self contained breathing apparatus: BS EN 145 and BS EN 1146:2005 Compressed air line breathing apparatus: BS EN 14593:2005 Fresh air hose apparatus: BS EN 138:1994
Body	Cut resistant clothing, high visibility clothing, thermal clothing, Buoyancy aids, etc.	High-visibility: EN471 Buoyancy: EN395, 396 & 399 Harness: EN361 Lanyard: EN354/355
Feet	Safety shoes, safety boots, riggers boots.	EN345

Training

In addition to the general requirement for training in health and safety, employees must be shown how PPE is to be used.  Although this sounds obvious, some forms of PPE must be used the right way up, etc. (such as ear muffs).  Employers must arrange for suitable training and instruction for employees in the use, storage, maintenance and cleaning of PPE.  It is required that employees be given adequate and comprehensible instructions, information and training in:

• the purpose for which the PPE has been provided
• the risks that it will protect against, including any restrictions or limitations of use, etc
• the correct method of use
• recognising wear, tear and defects
• the employee's role in ensuring the effective maintenance of PPE (e.g. simple user maintenance tasks, such as the replacement of filters on respiratory protective equipment).

Such information, etc must be kept available for employees. Demonstrations in the correct use of PPE must be organised at suitable intervals, where appropriate.

Keeping PPE safe, clean and available

It is a duty of the employer to ensure that any personal protective equipment provided to employees is maintained in an efficient state inefficient working order and in good repair, and this includes replacement of personal protective equipment.  One simple practical method by which employers can reduce the rate of loss and damage to personal protective equipment is by the provision of suitable accommodation for that equipment when it is not in use, as required by Regulation 8 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.  This may involve the provision of suitable lockers or of pegs or even of wall mounted boxes as is appropriate to the workplace and to the equipment provided.

Provision of PPE to non-employees

There is no specific requirement to provide personal protective equipment for non-employees.  In certain circumstances, however, the need to provide personal protective equipment for non-employees may arise from the employers duties under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (duty to ensure the health and safety of non-employees, so far as is reasonably practicable).  Typical examples may include the provision of high visibility jackets for use in yard areas or the provision of safety helmets for use in areas where construction activities are being carried out.

Summary
Although PPE should be viewed as the last resort with respect to keeping employees from harm, the selection and use of PPE is important, as are the appropriate use of the PPE provided and the enforcement of that use by managers and supervisors.  PPE should be selected to protect employees from identified risks and should not create new risks that are greater than those being protected against.  Employees must be provided with PPE free of charge and must be trained in the appropriate use, storage, cleaning and maintenance of the PPE provided.  Employees must make appropriate use of the PPE provided.

Michael Ellerby

LLB BSc CMIOSH MIIRSM MIFSM CChem MRSC CSci
Director
LRB Consulting Limited
www.lrbconsulting.co.uk 
Michael@Lrbconsulting.co.uk

Need help with COSHH for small business?

I address some of the issues facing smaller businesses when faced with undertaking COSHH risk assessments and introducing and enforcing the use of appropriate control measures in the workplace. Most of the businesses in the UK are small or medium sized enterprises.

The same health and safety laws apply to small businesses as apply to big ones, with a few exemptions on written risk assessments and written policy documentation for very small companies. It should be noted that these size based exemptions are not exemptions from the risk assessment itself, but from the need for a written record of the assessment.

Q - We don’t have hazardous substances, do we?

Many (smaller) businesses do not consider that they have any substances hazardous to health, often because they believe that this refers to chemicals associated with industrial processes.

In truth, there are few workplaces that do not store, use or generate any substances that are hazardous to health. In many cases, employers overlook or do not consider the hazards associated with some substances, particularly those with which they are very familiar.

A useful way to avoid this oversight is to draw up a list (or an inventory) of all of the substances that are stored, used or generated in the workplace. This inventory must be comprehensive and should include:

• cleaning and premises maintenance materials (such as lubricants, drain cleaning chemicals, paints, thinners, etc.),
• waste materials and by-products (such as wood dust and welding or soldering fume) and
• should consider water supplies (for water treatment chemicals and for Legionella).

Q - Do I really need to get safety data sheets for everything?

  

Having completed an inventory of what we have, the next stage is to determine whether any of the substances on the inventory are ‘hazardous to health’.  This includes substances

• that are labelled as hazardous (i.e. very toxic, toxic, harmful, irritant or corrosive) under the CHIP regulations or other statutory requirements
• as well as all substances that are identified as hazardous on the safety data sheet for the substance.

Once the inventory has been created, it is a relatively simple matter to obtain further information of potentially hazardous substances. Substance data sheets may be obtained from the manufacturer or supplier of the substance. These substance data sheets contain, amongst other things, information on the hazards associated with the substance.

  

Safety data sheets are particularly useful for determining if a substance is hazardous to health and are amongst the pieces of information that must be made available to employees who are exposed to substances hazardous to health. The safety data sheets will also provide the assessor with information about the hazards associated wiht the substances to which people may be exposed.

  

In the event of a person becoming ill while (potentially) exposed to a hazardous substance, the safety data sheet can provide a source of information to the person treating the ill person, such as a first aider. If that person needs to be sent to the hospital, then a copy of the safety data sheet should be sent with them.

  

Q - COSHH Assessments are very complicated, aren’t they?

  

Small businesses need a considered approach to COSHH, but must not assume that it does not apply to them or does not affect them.  A simple process would be:

• review the substances present of site
• assess the hazards associated with them
• reduce the number of hazardous substances
• replace hazardous substances with safe (or at least safer) alternatives
• assess the risk from the use of the reduced inventory of substances
• implement suitable and sufficient control measures
• enforce the use of control measures

The COSHH assessment can be simplified in many cases by the simple expedience of reducing the number of substances.  Businesses should look critically at the inventory of substances and consider two basic questions:

• Do I really need to use this substance at all (avoidance of the hazard); and
• If I need to use a substance, if there a safer alternative available (reduction of the severity of the hazard).

Once the number of substances (and their associated hazards) has been reduced, if is time to carry out the COSHH assessment.

 

One of the main points of the risk assessment is to identify the measures that are to be used to avoid a hazard or reduce the level of risk associated with a hazard. Employers must ensure that exposure to hazardous substances is prevented or, if this is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled.    

Ideally, this will mean preventing exposure by:

• removing hazardous substance, by changing the process;
• substituting it with a safe or safer substance, or using it in a safer form.

Where this is not reasonably practicable, then the employer needs to ensure that they are controlling exposure by, for example:

• totally enclosing the process (such as a shot-blasting box);
• using partial enclosure and/or extraction equipment (such as a spray painting booth);
• general ventilation;
• using safe systems of work and handling procedures (written procedures, etc.).

It is for the employer to decide on the method of controlling exposure. The COSHH regulations, however, limit the use of personal protective equipment (e.g. respirators, dust marks, protective clothing), as the means of protection to only those situations where other measures cannot adequately control exposure.

  

Q - Our process risk assessments already cover hazardous substances; do I need to write new COSHH assessments?

 

For small businesses, it is often sensible to combine risk assessments to reduce paper work.  It is possible to create an “Office Risk Assessment” that deals with all of the general risk assessment issues, COSHH issues and fire safety issues in one simple assessment.

 

Although several pieces of legislation may require the employer to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to employers and/or others, there is no requirement for these assessments to be carried out separately and called:

• COSHH assessments
• general risk assessments or
• manual handling assessments, etc.

It is important that risk assessments cover all relevant areas in sufficient depth and detail. In the event that your current risk assessments (such as those that are required under Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999) address adequately all of the issues required under COSHH, then there is no need to produce new risk assessments to comply with the requirements of COSHH.

  

As with all other risk assessments, COSHH risk assessments must be kept up to date and reviewed in the event of any significant change or if thought to be out of date for any reason.

 

Still feel you need help? Contact us through the website 

Are cleaning chemicals dangerous - how should I store them?

Simple guidelines

Cleaning Materials

Consideration should be given to the safe storage of cleaning chemicals. This is not difficult or onerous, but may be important (as the case below demonstrates).  Some cleaning materials are corrosive and can cause burns (especially to the eyes and face).  Storage should be considered as part of the COSHH and/or workplace risk assessment.

• The storage location should be secure
• Display a warning (if hazardous substances are stored there) a warning notice should be displayed.
• The bottles of cleaning chemicals should be sealed and labels should be visible.
• The storage area should not be overcrowded.
• Efforts should be taken to avoid storing corrosive substances (such as drain or oven cleaner) at head height or above.

For more detailed advice, or help with risk assessments, etc, please contact us through our website.

Unpleasant case
A waitress at a hotel suffered burns to her eyes, face, and chest when an open bottle of oven cleaner splashed on her.  The waitress, aged 22, was working at Whitworth Hall Hotel in Spennymoor, County Durham, when the incident took place in May 2009.

The hotel was hosting a wedding and the waitress was asked by the hotel’s trainee manager to help find a roll of mop-up tissue. While searching for the roll inside an unlit storage cupboard, she disturbed a bottle of oven cleaner had been stored on a shelf three feet above ground level, without a lid and with the warning labels pointing away from her. As she moved the bottle, the liquid splashed on to her face and she suffered corneal abrasion on her eyes and burns to her face and chest. She was unable to return to work for two weeks, but has subsequently made a full recovery.
The owners of the hotel appeared at Darlington Magistrates’ Court on 12 October 2011 and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974 and reg.8 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, for failing to adequately light the cupboard. It was fined a total of £8700 and £3229 in costs.

In mitigation, the company said it had adequate procedures in place and its staff should have followed them. It has subsequently put a light in the cupboard and installed signs to warn that dangerous chemicals are stored inside. The oven cleaner is now kept at the bottom of the cupboard and the company monitors who has access to the storage area.

After the hearing, the council’s head of environment, health and consumer protection, Joanne Waller, said:

“This case should serve as a warning to other businesses that they need to take their responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of their staff seriously... It is not enough for employers to simply have risk assessments and procedures written down – they must also make sure their staff are aware of them and follow them properly.”