PPE is equipment that will protect the user or wearer against any health or safety risks at work.
PPE is used in a wide range of jobs and industries, from the obvious, such as agricultural and building industries to, more surprisingly, catering and lifeguarding. The type of PPE changes according to the user’s working conditions and regulations.
Safety equipment included in PPE include safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and safety harnesses, as well as respiratory protective equipment (RPE).
Why is PPE important?
Making the workplace safe includes providing instructions, procedures, training and supervision to encourage people to work safely and responsibly.
Even where engineering controls and safe systems of work have been applied, some hazards might remain. These include injuries to:
PPE is needed in these cases to reduce the risk.
Types of PPE
Eye Protection
Eye protection can protect you from chemical or metal splashes, dust, gas and vapour and, even, radiation. That said, you should ensure you select the correct eye protection for your requirements. According to the HSE, you should make sure your choice of eye protection is suitable for the task in hand and fits correctly. In addition, your eye protection should have the right combination of impact, dust, splash and molten metal eye protection.
The following types of eye protection are mentioned by the HSE website: Safety spectacles, goggles, face screens, face shields and visors. Essential Safety Wear have a range of eye protection available including goggles, face shields and spectacles.
Head and Neck Protection
Head and neck PPE can protect the user from the impact of falling or flying objects, as well as protecting injury from bumping the head or hair getting caught in machinery. Head and neck PPE can also protect the wearer from chemical splashes, as well as climate or temperature.
According to the HSE, types of head and neck protection include industrial safety helmets, bump caps, hairnets and firefighters’ helmets, as well as scarves to protect the neck. In addition, some safety helmets incorporate or can be fitted with specially-designed eye or hearing protection
The HSE also reminds wearers to replace head protection if it is damaged.
Ear Protection
The main hazard to ears is, unsurprisingly, noise and PPE like earplugs, earmuffs and semi-insert/canal caps can provide the necessary protection.
Hands and Arm Protection
According to the HSE, hands and arms can be at risk of abrasion, temperature extremes, cuts and punctures, impact, chemicals, electric shock, radiation, vibration, biological agents and prolonged immersion in water.
Gloves, gloves with a cuff combined with sleeves that covers all, or part of, the arm can offer effective PPE.
Feet and legs
Safety boots and shoes with protective toecaps and penetration-resistant, wellington boots as well as other types of safety footwear from Essential Safety Wear can offer effective PPE for your feet and legs.
It is important that the appropriate footwear is selected for the risks in each workplace.
Lungs
Respiratory protective equipment (RPE) can offer protection for the lungs.
Whole body
Essential Safety Wear offers a wide range of PPE for your body, like high-visibility clothing and flame retardant work wear.
For more information on the importance of PPE, contact Sparks Workwear on 08005 202 535.