Provide, monitor, control and inform: these are the four guidelines for the management of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Managing them daily is not that simple, especially when it comes to guaranteeing the safety of employees, as well as their comfort and long-term commitment.
What does PPE management involve? What are the necessary prerequisites? Find out all the answers in this article.
The contribution of PPE is only ranked 8th in the 9 general principles of prevention, prioritising the reduction of risks at source and organisational aspects before providing Personal Protective Equipment to employees. However, we will see in this article that PPE management is an essential part of occupational risk prevention. The Council Directive 89/656/EEC defines PPE as "equipment designed to be worn or held by the worker to protect him against one or more hazards likely to endanger his safety and health at work".
Employers have legal responsibilities in terms of prevention to guarantee a safe and healthy workplace for their employees.
The manufacture, use, maintenance and control of PPE are regulated. According to the EU regulation 2016/425, PPE must have the ‘’CE’’ markings affixed next to the manufacturer's name visibly and indelibly to be compliant with the regulation. Also, a user manual must be provided with the equipment specifying some information, such as the conditions of storage, use, maintenance, and transport, as well as the expiration date of the product.
PPEs are classified into three categories concerning the level and type of protection:
Therefore, employers need to identify hazards and evaluate and control the risks at their workplace. Hence the importance of hazard identification and risk assessment documentation helps them to provide their teams with the appropriate PPE.
The employer has other obligations in terms of PPE management:
PPE management is a process that must be rigorous to be effective. This management must be carried out in close collaboration with the operational staff, who use this equipment daily.
As humans, our most important concern is our safety and health. Therefore, It is crucial to put the human factor at the centre of the prevention process. It is only the operators, who are directly involved, that have an objective perspective of the situation in the field. They are the ones who have truly experienced the vagaries of comfort and accessibility. Their feedback is essential.
Organising focus groups involving managers, the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) department and operators help to ensure that no important elements are being overlooked (whether it is the regulatory context, financial aspects or experiences in the field). This approach complies with the requirements of ISO 45001 regarding the participation and consultation of employees. The workshop’s objective is to determine which PPE model is best suited to reduce risks without neglecting the operator’s comfort. It is achieved by testing and comparing the different PPE models to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each one of them.
The testing phase must be carried out in the field and real working conditions. A small group of operators, with various profiles, is chosen to ensure the objectivity and effectiveness of the test. The data analysis is based on the feedback and reactions of each worker, according to their morphology or their age, while taking into account the work environment and their related activities. To have an objective overview, the testing phase must last for several weeks.
Each piece of equipment is dedicated to a well-defined activity: therefore, if there is any change or new feature created, it must be introduced appropriately to support a potential change of practice and ensure proper use of PPE for maximum efficiency. Some equipment, for example, respiratory protection masks, depends on the user's morphology. Consequently, it is important to train the staff on its use in real conditions or to carry out a "FIT test" to define which model is best suited to the user's morphology.
This training and testing might be expensive, but they will pay off if the PPE is used properly and the operators are comfortable with the equipment. To convince and engage all operators to a change in PPE, demonstrations and practical exercises are also recommended.
Digital support effectiveness has been proven: notification, centralisation, pooling, or securing the information in real-time. It is a real ally to lighten the daily administrative procedures. In the context of PPE management, a dedicated tool provides several benefits:
As you can see, choosing a PPE is not just selecting a model from a catalogue! It is a long-term process that requires collaboration with all the company's stakeholders to achieve quality. Dedicated tools can facilitate this study, saving precious time daily.