The RCT Source

No, employees or agency workers cannot be charged for PPE provided by employers, although people who are self-employed can.

No – PPE is provided by the Council for use at work.

Yes.

PPE is provided to protect employees against risks to their health and safety and employees must cooperate with their employer on all matters relating to health and safety.

PPE will have a ‘shelf life’.  It will need to be replaced when that shelf life expires, or when it has been damaged and the damage is so bad that repair is either not possible or is too costly.

The main requirement of the Regulations is that PPE is to be supplied and used at work wherever there are risks to health and safety that cannot be adequately controlled in other ways.

They also require that PPE:

• is properly assessed before its use to ensure it is suitable;
• is maintained and stored properly;
• is provided with instructions on how to use it properly;
• is 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.

PPE means Personal Protective Equipment, which is defined in the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations as:

“all equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by people at work and which protects them against one or more risks to their health and safety”.

Clothing such as ordinary working clothes, uniforms provided for a corporate image and clothing provided for food hygiene purposes are not covered by the PPE Regulations.

However uniforms or clothing provided to protect employees against risks to their health and safety, such as high-visibility clothing and weatherproofed or insulated clothing, is.

Their manager.