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