How To Choose the Right PPE for Your Workplace

When working in a hazardous environment, the safety of workers should be the main priority, which is why choosing the right PPE for your specific workplace is crucial. 

However, with so many types of PPE available, it can be challenging to know what qualities and factors to look for, for different industries. Luckily, there are a number of common characteristics and situations across all industries that make it easier to find the right PPE to suit your workplace’s needs.

Here are 4 steps you can take when choosing the right PPE for your workplace:

1. Carry Out a Hazard Risk Assessment

First and foremost, before selecting the best PPE for your workplace, you want to carry out a hazard risk assessment, as the correct PPE will depend on the perceived level of risk. Ideally you should conduct a risk assessment for each type of job. 

Once the hazards have been identified, you need to determine the level of protection needed. The type and level of protection required will vary depending on the type of hazard and the exposure level. For example, employees working with large machinery should protect their hands by wearing durable max grip protective gloves, while those working with chemicals should wear chemical protective gloves.

Another example is the handling of glass. If your workers are moving heavy annealed glass around frequently, they will need high-level PPE. Half-inch annealed glass can break and become as sharp as a scalpel, posing a serious threat to workers. In this case, they would need PPE with higher levels of cut protection to prevent injury. On the other hand, if your workers are working with quarter-inch tempered glass, there is less risk for serious or fatal accidents, and they won’t require as strong PPE. 

2. Consider Comfort and Fit

As well as considering the level of protection needed, you must also ensure that the protective items fit correctly, allowing your workers to carry out their tasks without causing any difficulty.  Remember that PPE is not one-size-fits-all, and you must take your employee’s different body shapes into account and choose PPE that fits each employee perfectly.

The weight of PPE is another important factor to consider when choosing the right PPE as it will significantly affect your employee’s range of movement. Heavy PPE can put your workers at risk of fatigue, which will affect their overall productivity and performance of their job. This is why lightweight PPE is often the recommended option, although you must ensure that the materials are strong enough to withstand wear and tear and be “fit for purpose”.

You must also consider the comfort of your employees, as if they are uncomfortable, they are likely to be distracted from their work or worse, be tempted to remove their PPE. Therefore, make sure that the PPE chosen has a comfortable fit and also offers sufficient airflow to avoid heat stress. This is especially important during hot summer months or where employees are exposed to environments with high heat.

This brings us nicely onto our next point…

3. Consider the Climate

As touched on above, it’s super important to take into consideration the climate in which your workers will be working. 

In hot and humid environments, wearing heavy or non-breathable PPE will most likely lead to heat stress, which in turn can cause fatigue, dehydration, and other health issues. This can be especially dangerous for workers who are required to wear PPE for extended periods of time, such as construction workers or firefighters.

On the other hand however, in cold climates, PPE must provide adequate insulation to protect workers from hypothermia and frostbite. Workers may also need to wear additional layers of clothing underneath their PPE if necessary, which might affect the fit of the workwear. 

4. Consider the PPE Regulations in Your Industry

Last but certainly not least, you want to understand the PPE regulations in your industry, as each industry has their own specific requirements for the safety of their workers. There is no one tool that can do it all, so you need to be sure that you choose the right PPE for your workers carefully.

For instance, some PPE clothing has wire in the yarn, which can potentially be fatal if workers are exposed to electricity or work in an environment where there is an electrical threat. People working in the police should have higher-level material near the neck since they are most prone to stabbing in that vulnerable area, while those working in the oil and gas industry must wear flame-resistant clothing as there is a high potential for exposure to flames or electrical arc flash.

For more tips from our experts, check out our blog page or get in touch with any questions you may have about safety tips for your workplace.

Written by Kate, for Morsafe Supplies.