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Making a Constructive Dismissal
Compensation for Unfair Dismissal
Employers, Employees and Maternity Leave
Absent From Work and Natural Disasters
Flexible Working in Employment
Employers With Employees Working From Home
Social Workers Licensing Requirements
Unpaid Internships and Employment Law
Hotel Cleaners Paid By Rooms Cleaned
Medical Evidence in Disciplinaries
Employee Giving Company Bad Name
Employer Access to Medical Records
Employment Checks for Minor Criminal Convictions
Legal Issues Working With Children and Vulnerable Adults
Child Abuse Overseas UK Employment Law
British Workers Rights Over Foreigners
Blacklisting Trade Union Members
Employment Agency Withholding Pay
Employment Agency Withholding Pay
Building Work Health and Safety
Driving for a Living and the Law
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992 provide various obligations on both employees and employers to ensure that this happens.
The term protective equipment is defined the Personal Protective Regulations 1992 as all equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work which protects them against one or more risks to their health and safety.
Examples of such equipment will be hard hats, high visibility jackets, protective footwear, goggles, life jackets, safety harnesses etc.
Clothing affording protection against the weather such as waterproofs or insulated clothing is only deemed to be protective equipment if the use of it is necessary to protect employees against adverse climatic or weather conditions that otherwise may affect their health and safety.
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulations ensure that there is a legal duty for personal protective equipment to be appropriately selected by the employer and used by the employee where the risks cannot be controlled by other means.
Personal protective equipment should only be used as a last resort and where there are no other possibilities available. In the case of the use of working machinery all other effective safeguards such as glass screens should be evaluated before the worker is simply provided with goggles as protective eyewear.
The following are the key reasons why personal protective equipment should be considered as a last resort:
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 impose a duty on all employers to undertake risk assessments in relation to Health and Safety. There are various other Health and Safety Regulations to be taken into consideration here also.
For example if the employment is concerned with hazardous substances then the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations will come into play or if the employment was in the construction industry then the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations would come into play, both which require full risk assessments.
If in carrying out risk assessments in relation to construction it was found that a hard hat was needed or in relation to control of substances that gloves were needed when handling the substance then the Personal Protective Equipment regulations would then come into play.
The use of personal protective equipment therefore becomes apparent through a risk assessment required from other Health and Safety Legislation.
In choosing the correct kind of personal protective equipment all of the hazards involved in the performance of the task must be considered and the most suitable equipment chosen.
The following are examples of how to assess the suitability of equipment:
Certain equipment such as hard hats have certain standards which must be worn in relation to specific dangers. Both employers and employees should maintain that the appropriate standard of equipment is worn.
Where an employee is required to ensure that an employee has the requisite personal protective equipment supplied to him the employer is also under a duty to ensure that appropriate information, instruction and training is provided to enable the employee to know the following:
It is the duty of every employer to ensure that this is adhered to.
Effective maintenance of the equipment must be ensured to keep the equipment in good working order and in good repair.
It is the duty of every employer to ensure that this is adhered to.
The employer has to ensure the following other duties as described by the Regulations are adhered to:
All employees must take reasonable steps to ensure that all personal protective equipment is used appropriately. Specifically they must adhere to the following:
If you are self employed then you still have a duty under the Regulations to obtain and use appropriate personal protective equipment where there is a risk to your Health and Safety which cannot be adequately controlled by alternative measures.
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 encompass the existing legislation under the 1992 Regulations but also introduce a legislative framework in relation to manufacturers of Personal Protective Equipment.
For example no person (including company) will be able to place a product on the market unless they have ensured that the appropriate health and safety requirements for that product are met and certain standards are adhered to.
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