PE, or Personal Protective Equipment, are equipment and instruments that have the objective of minimizing the damage deriving from risks to health and safety at work.
Depending on the degree of risk of the work activity, the use of specific devices is envisaged, which in some circumstances may also be mandatory by law.
The obligation to use PPE, in fact, concerns all cases in which certain risk factors cannot be avoided or reduced by prevention measures or collective protection means. In this article, we will see, in particular, what is the Personal Protective Equipment.
PPE: what they are
The Consolidated Law on Safety at Work (Legislative Decree 81/08) establishes that PPE in the workplace must comply with the rules laid down in Legislative Decree 475/92: Article 74 gives the following definition of Personal Protective Equipment :
“Any equipment intended to be worn and held by the worker for the purpose of protecting him against one or more risks likely to threaten his safety or health at work, as well as any accessory or accessory intended for this purpose”.
Among the PPE requirements it is expected that they must:
- be adequate to the risks to be prevented (without constituting a greater risk);
- be adapted to the conditions existing in the workplace;
- take into account the ergonomic and health needs of workers;
- be compatible with each other, if the risks are multiple and it is necessary to use several PPE simultaneously;
- be easy to put on and take off in an emergency.
Before going to see, in detail, what is the Personal Protective Equipment, it is good to immediately highlight which equipment and instruments should be excluded from this definition :
- ordinary and uniform work clothes not specifically intended for the health and safety of the worker;
- rescue and rescue services equipment;
- personal protective equipment of the armed forces, police, and personnel for the maintenance of public order;
- personal protective equipment for road transport vehicles;
- sporting materials;
- self-defense or dissuasion materials;
- portable devices to identify and report risks and harmful factors.
PPE: categories
Personal Protective Equipment is classified into three categories, in ascending order according to the degree of risk associated with work.
First category PPE: they are protective devices for activities that have minimal risk and that cause minor damage (such as the effect of vibrations, sun rays, light impacts, atmospheric phenomena, etc.). They are self-certified by the manufacturer.
Second category PPE: simply, here are included the PPE that does not fall into the other two categories and which are linked to activities with significant risk (Legislative Decree 475/92 does not provide a real definition of this category). A certificate of certification from an authorized inspection body is required.
Third category PPE: devices that protect the worker from serious or permanent damage to his health, or from the risk of death. According to current health and safety at work regulations, specific mandatory training is required to be able to use them correctly. Some examples of third category PPE are harnesses, helmets with chin straps, self-contained breathing apparatus, fireproof gloves, etc.).
Personal protection devices fall into this category:
- for respiratory protection (filtering);
- insulators;
- for very hot (+ 100 ° C) or very cold environments (from -50 ° C downwards);
- against chemical aggression;
- against falls from above;
- for protection from electrical risk.
Work activities subject to the use of third category PPE are, for example, those that operate in confined spaces or work at height.
In general, PPE can also be classified based on the type of protection, which can be:
- upper limbs
- lower limbs
- of eyes and face
- hearing
- of the boss
- of the respiratory tract
- of the body and skin
- from falls from above
- for visibility.
PPE: obligations of the employer
The employer is subject to a series of obligations for the use of PPE, established by art.77 of Legislative Decree 81/08.
Based on what is defined in the Consolidated Law, he must:
- take care of the choice of PPE to be used, based on the risk assessment, of the characteristics of the Personal Protective Equipment (also for any sources of risk that they may themselves involve), of any changes in the assessment elements and identifying the relative technical standard UNI-EN;
- identify the conditions in which a PPE must be used (in particular as regards the use, the extent of the risk, the frequency of exposure to the risk, the performance of the PPE and the characteristics of the workplace of each worker);
- take care of providing workers with PPE compliant with the required requirements;
- ensure the efficiency and hygiene conditions of PPE, taking care of necessary maintenance, repairs, and replacements;
- allocate each Personal Protective Equipment for personal use and provide understandable instructions for workers;
- inform workers, at a preliminary stage, of what are the risks from which they are protected thanks to PPE;
- ensure adequate training on the correct use of PPE. The training, indispensable for third category PPE and for hearing protection devices, must be documented and verified.
PPE: worker obligations
The worker is also subject to certain obligations, also established by the Consolidated Law :
- undergo the information and training program and use PPE in accordance with what has been learned;
- take care of the PPE made available to the employer, without making any changes to it;
- report any defects or inconveniences;
- at the end of the use, follow the company procedures for their return.
