Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is often the only barrier between a worker and the potential for serious injury. The reasons for its use, and the risks of not wearing it, are well known, but industrial workers are often less informed on the correct ways, and the importance, of properly maintaining their PPE – something that can have potentially tragic consequences.
“Proper care of PPE is of paramount importance to maintain optimum performance; however, it can be extremely difficult to achieve,” says Ariane Biberian of DuPont. “For example, repeated washing of a high-visibility garment reduces the brightness of its colours and blinds the reflective tape, which may lead to fatal accidents, because a worker was not visible enough.”
A legal requirement
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 (http://bit.ly/1gGmHEw) state that employees must be protected from the hazards of extreme temperature, adverse weather, chemical or metal splashback, spray from pressure leaks or spray guns, contaminated dust, impact or penetration and the excessive wear or entanglement of the worker’s own clothes.
On top of this, says Helen Wood (opposite, top), operations director at Johnsons Services Group, is a legal imperative to look after PPE. “Protective equipment must be properly looked after and stored, and, if it is reusable, must be kept in clean and good condition,” she says. “Employees must make proper use of PPE and report its loss, destruction or any fault in it.
“The Health and Safety executive (HSE) suggests a controlled approach to PPE (http://bit.ly/19MZsFR) and gives special advice for certain working conditions,” Wood continues. “This involves putting in place a management system for the provision and timely replacement of PPE. These give recommendations for laundry and cleaning, so that, for instance, the equipment’s fire retardancy is not compromised.”
Everyone’s imperative
The ultimate responsibility for worker safety falls on the shoulders of employers. “No matter the industry, employers are responsible for making working environments safe for employees to operate in,” explains Adam Ward, product manager for PPE and workwear at Buck & Hickman. “Regulations including COSHH 2002 and the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 enforce this.”
However, he adds, in many cases, risk cannot be entirely reduced. This is where PPE comes in. “The very nature of some tasks, such as cutting materials or handling liquids containing volatile solvents, or the presence of hazardous fumes, gases and particles means precautionary measures, must be implemented to minimise the risk to workers.”
Caring for PPE, then, is vital and the job of everyone who is either responsible for or has to wear it on a day-to-day basis. This, unfortunately, doesn’t always happen. As part of the Johnsons Services Group, Johnsons Apparelmaster provides a laundry service for industrial PPE. Wood says that she is always surprised by the condition in which some equipment is sent to them. “We see a lot of examples where workwear has not been taken care of as well as it could be,” she explains. “For example, welders should be wearing leather aprons and protective gloves to protect them from sparks and fire. However, it’s transparent from some of the workwear
we care for, when it’s burned and pitted, that this just isn’t happening.”
In an ideal world, adds Biberian of DuPont, PPE should be “checked after each use for any damage or contamination, with any compromised garments being discarded. The remaining PPE should be cleaned by a qualified professional and stored under the appropriate conditions until it is needed again”.
There is, however, one major issue that can often put companies off this: cost. “This can be quite a complex and expensive process,” continues Biberian. “It’s especially costly for companies that employ a lot of contract workers, who won’t use the equipment many times, and so it will need replacing regularly. This is the reason why we are seeing an increased demand for disposable PPE, which can be simply thrown away after use. Disposable PPE guarantees that a garment is providing 100% protection every time, and also eliminates a lot of the costs associated with the auditing, laundering and storage of reusable garments.”
Training staff
The easiest way to ensure PPE is correctly cared for is to encourage staff to take responsibility for their own equipment. However, there are a number of challenges to this – not least that wearing, let alone caring for, PPE is often seen as a chore.
“Quite often, poorly maintained PPE relates directly back to comfort and a lack of awareness of personal responsibility,” explains Wood. “People won’t do things that are inconvenient, restrictive or if they don’t fully understand why they have to do it. We aim to support our clients in educating staff about the benefits of caring for their PPE by explaining how each item protects them and why caring for them is crucial.”
Buck & Hickman’s Ward uses the example of respiratory masks. “When they aren’t being used, they need to be looked after and stored appropriately,” he explains. “This means keeping them in their designated cases and carrying out cleaning and general maintenance as outlined by the manufacturer. By doing this, equipment is kept in the best condition to adequately protect users when operating in contaminated environments.”
The risks of failing to do this, continues Ward, can be severe. “Should equipment be left in unclean areas, such as on floors or in vans, users risk contamination inside their mask. This exposes them to the harmful elements which may be present in their work environments, putting them at risk of developing avoidable health conditions.”
Regular wearers are also a valuable asset for finding any faults, adds Ward. “Workers are best-placed to identify any problems or faults which may have occurred over time, compromising their effectiveness,” he says. “While carrying out general maintenance may be possible after receiving appropriate training, any problems with equipment should be reported immediately to allow for more complex repairs or replacements to take place.”
However, adds Ward, employers should still carry out regular checks to ensure the equipment is both being properly worn and maintained. “This approach also opens up channels for discussion around many problems that workers may have found with equipment or for any improvements to be suggested,” he says. “For instance, in situations where wearing PPE is impractical or uncomfortable, workers are prone to temporarily taking it off, despite the knowledge that doing so may put their health at risk. By having the opportunity to feed back any concerns, employers can make any changes and ensure that workers are kept safe, no matter the environment.”
The impact of technology
Cutting-edge technology is also having an impact on PPE’s effectiveness. “Technology has impacted protective workwear by offering more choice of materials than ever before,” says Wood. “The wrong PPE workwear can reduce mobility and increase heat stress. Whereas once we would only see about three types of material used in equipment, there are now as many as six or seven.
“Rather than the fit and design being the focal point for the change, it’s comfort that has seen the biggest impact,” continues Wood. “Materials are not necessarily lasting longer, but are lighter, softer and easier to wear. New materials can also be washed at a much higher temperature.”
Wood also reinforces the need for high quality, fully certified PPE and workwear. “It must be fitted with the CE mark and also conform to other current standards, including EN340,” she says. “We do come across clients that have been sold poor-quality workwear, which has come from the Asian markets. These lesser quality materials do not stand up to industrial laundering, meaning the garment does not have the ability to provide quality, durability or economical repair, and there is no peace of mind that as much protection as possible is being given to employees.”
As the last line of defence, PPE is arguably the most important piece of equipment in an industrial setting.
It’s vital, therefore, to ensure that every member of staff is clear as to the importance of properly fitting, maintaining and storing their equipment, and of the risks posed by not doing so. The onus is also on employers to, first, provide the correct PPE for the job, and, secondly, check its correct use and maintenance.