Personal protective equipment should increase the safety of workers, unfortunately the personal protective equipment isn’t always maintained to the correct standard. Or in some cases isn’t made available at all.
What is personal protective equipment?
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the equipment individuals can use to protect themselves from hazards and risks while in the workplace.
Personal protective equipment includes but is not limited to:
- High visibility clothing
- Hard hats
- Safety Helmets
- Goggles and safety glasses
- Safety footwear
- Hand protection
- Face masks
- Ear defenders
- Harnesses
- Breathing apparatus
This equipment should be maintained to a high standard and be readily available or a requirement to enter different workplaces. If the equipment is not maintained properly it can become faulty and have the reverse effect of what it’s designed for, cause injuries.
Injuries involving PPE in the UK
Around 9,000 personal protective equipment related accidents are reported to the health and safety executive every single year. This matched with the construction industry seeing the largest number of fatal accidents and one of the highest fatal injury rates proves how important correct use of PPE is.
PPE related accidents cost the economy £252 million each year. Foot related injuries top the pile costing £85 million per year, while hand and arm related accidents cost £75 million over the same period.
Inspectors found that around £96 million of the total could not have been prevented or mitigated by the PPE provided. Failure to consider personal protective equipment resulted in costs of around £49 million whilst not using the PPE provided resulted in costs of around £65 million.
In around one-third of the cases personal protective equipment was used correctly, but the accident resulted from some other cause that could not have been prevented or mitigated by the PPE.
How can employers prevent accidents involving PPE?
Employers have responsibility for keeping the staff they employee safe while at work. Sometimes this can include providing personal protective equipment to the employees and enforcing strict rules about workplace safety.
When employers provide employees with personal protective equipment they need to:
Ensure that personal protective equipment is assessed and fit for purpose prior to use
Before the personal protective equipment is used employers should carry out a process whereby careful consideration is given to the choice of equipment to be used when performing certain tasks.
Issues to consider include:
- Who is using the equipment and what health and safety risks might they be exposed to
- How long will they be exposed to these risks
- How much of a risk will they be exposed to
The equipment should not only be chosen by the task in hand but also take into consideration the users, ensure the size, weight and fit of the PPE is suitable for the employee completing the task.
Provide adequate training on using equipment
To ensure they’re compliant with the regulations set out by the government employers should provide all members of staff with up to date training for the equipment they will be using. If the employees are not trained to use the equipment it could lead to more injuries occurring.
Ensure equipment has been maintained and stored correctly
With a lot of the personal protective equipment being reusable, it’s vital that it’s maintained and stored properly. If the equipment hasn’t been it could result in defects to equipment and increase the employees exposure to risk.
Responsibility should be assigned to an individual or group of individuals for the maintenance and safe storage of personal protective equipment as well as ensuring that there is a ready supply available as and when required.
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