When To Use Personal Protective Equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is anything used or worn by a person to minimise a risk to the person’s health or safety.
PPE includes items such as:
PPE is one of the least effective ways of controlling risks to health and safety and should only be used:
When choosing the right PPE for the job, the selection processes must include consultation with workers and also include:
PPE includes items such as:
- eye protection for example, goggles, glasses and face shields
- hearing protection for example, ear plugs and ear muffs
- respiratory protection for example, filter respirators, air line respirators and SCBA
- foot protection for example, safety shoes and boots, spats and rubber gum boots
- head protection for example, hard hats, helmets and broad brimmed hats
- body protection for example, aprons, overalls, gloves and high visibility clothing
- any substance used to protect health, for example, sunscreen.
PPE is one of the least effective ways of controlling risks to health and safety and should only be used:
- when there are no other practical control measures available
- as an interim measure until a more effective way of controlling the risk can be used
- to supplement higher level control measures.
When choosing the right PPE for the job, the selection processes must include consultation with workers and also include:
- an evaluation of the risk and performance requirements for the PPE
- compatibility of PPE items where more than one type of PPE is required
- consultation with the supplier to ensure PPE is suitable for the work and workplace conditions
- preference for PPE that complies with the relevant Australian Standard or equivalent standard.