What is PPE?
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is designed to protect the wearer from one or more hazards and comes in many forms – clothing, gloves, eye protection, head protection, face masks, fall arrest equipment etc.
PPE should only be considered as a last resort when considering how to manage and control a hazard, after risk assessment.
Responsibilities:
Employers must ensure:
- Suitable PPE is provided to their employees who may be exposed to health and safety risk at work
- PPE is suitable, maintained and stored correctly
- Employees have the information, instruction and training on how to use PPE
Employees must ensure:
- They use PPE as instructed
- They report any defects to their PPE
- They report any discomfort they experience when wearing their PPE