PPE is defined as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). It is to be used in work areas as a device to protect individuals against risks that threaten health and safety at work.

How to use, store and preserve PPE

The correct use, storage and maintenance of personal protective equipment (PPE) is an essential part to ensure its efficiency. PPEs must be kept with inadequate safety and hygiene conditions for the entire time they must be in use. If anyone suffers any deterioration, it will be necessary to replace it.

Cleaning, disinfection, maintenance and replacement are necessary, and these products must be provided by the manufacturer of the equipment, who is the one who must include them in the information leaflet that is delivered to the buyer with the PPE. The brochure must be at the disposal of the employees who are going to use said PPE For correct use and maintenance. The following points of the information brochure must be instructions for use, storage, cleaning, maintenance, review and disinfection.

Protection against different levels of risks

It is necessary to share that incorrect use or low conservation of PPE can generate added risks to workers, due to:

• Alterations in the protective function
• Lack of hygiene
• Discomfort and inconvenience of the user

The worker must wear PPE for as long as it is considered appropriate. Since it is shown that the fact of carrying the equipment for a shorter period than previously established supposes an exponential decrease in the degree of protection, being in practice equivalent to not having used. Consider the following aspects:

• The severity of the risk
• The conditions of the workplace
• The frequency of exposure to the risk
• The performance of the equipment itself

All personal protective equipment is for personal use, as its name indicates. But if circumstances require the use of the same equipment by different people, it will have to be ensured that the degree of adaptation to each of them is such as to protect them.

Note when conserving PPE: 

• Use of personal protective equipment
• Understanding of the need for use
• Knowledge of its correct use
• Individual allocation of equipment for each employee
• Responsibility of the user
• Incorporation in the work regulations
• Discipline in its use
• Availability at all times for use
• Conservation of personal protective equipment
• Periodic maintenance
• Fixing of the duration time
• Storage inappropriate places and conditions

Buy PPE equipment in the UK: things to keep in mind

We want to remind you that providing the most appropriate PPE according to the type of work carried out and the risk it entails is the obligation of the company. The employee must: Use and take care of personal protective equipment correctly, using it according to the instructions ions given by the employer. Immediately inform his direct superior of any flaw, anomaly or damage that is appreciated in the personal protective equipment.

There is a wide variety available to buy PPE equipment in the UK. To buy PPE online, visit the PPE Extra online store.