General
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) |
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is defined in the PPE at Work Regulations as:
‘all equipment (including affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects him against one or more risks to his health or safety’.
Examples are safety helmets, eye protection, high-visibility clothing, gloves and safety footwear.
Hearing protection and respiratory protective equipment are not covered by the PPE Regulations because other regulations apply to them. However, information on respiratory protective equipment can be found by accessing some of the links below, although hearing protection is covered under ‘Noise’ in the Health, Safety and Wellbeing section of The RCT Source.
Ordinary working clothes, uniforms provided for a corporate image or clothes provided for food hygiene purposes are not covered by the PPE Regulations either.
The main requirements of the PPE Regulations are that employers are to provide personal protective equipment whenever risks presented by the work cannot be adequately controlled by other means, and that employees must use any personal protective equipment so provided.
The PPE Regulations also require that personal protective equipment is properly assessed before its use to ensure it is suitable, and that it is maintained and stored properly, provided with instructions on how to use it properly and used correctly by employees (who must be provided with adequate information, instruction and training in its proper use and the risks it is being provided to protect against).
Advice on personal protective equipment can be obtained from the Health and Safety Team, Tŷ Elai,