Personal Protective Equipment

Introduction
Definition
Roles and Responsibilities
Procedure
References

Introduction

This procedure outlines the requirements and practices for the management of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to assist with the correct selection, supply, use, replacement, maintenance, training and storage.

Definition

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is safety clothing and equipment for specified circumstances or areas, where the nature of the work involved or the conditions under which people are working, requires its wearing or use for their personal protection to minimise risk.

Roles and Responsibilities

Line Managers/Supervisors are responsible for:

implementing this guideline in their area of responsibility
ensuring appropriate selection of PPE
ensuring staff and health and safety representatives are consulted in relation to selection, use and training in relation to PPE.

Employees are responsible for:

not placing themselves or others at risk of injury
using PPE that is provided
participating in consultation processes associated with selection, use and training in relation to PPE.

Students, Visitors and Volunteers are responsible for:

not placing themselves or others at risk of injury
using PPE that is provided or in the case of a student providing and using the type of PPE required for certain practical studies.

Health and Safety Representatives are responsible for:

assisting Line Managers and staff in the identification with the selection and use of PPE.

Procedure

The need to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shall be determined from the process of hazard identification, risk assessment and development of risk control measures using the Form OHSW2 in OHSW Procedure – Hazard Management or Form OHSW 11 in OHSW Procedure – Hazardous Substances Management. These shall be completed to ensure that the provision of PPE is an appropriate control option.

PPE shall conform to any legislative, Australian Standard and/or Industry Standard requirements or guidelines.

PPE items should be purchased from suppliers who ensure that only approved (Australian Standard or equivalent marking) PPE will be provided and include the following services:

advice on PPE
information relating to any test results
advice on personal fitting, use, cleaning, maintenance and storage of PPE
a range of sizes (where appropriate)
information on the availability and need for replacement parts
demonstration of the PPE
immediate replacement of any defective PPE

Consideration shall be given to the need for protecting persons who are working nearby or passing close to hazardous areas.

Required PPE

Circumstances in which PPE may be required to be worn include:

Head protection in the form of a safety helmet shall be worn where, there is a possibility that a person may be struck on the head by a falling object, a person may strike his/her head against a fixed object, or there may be inadvertent head contact with electrical hazards.

Eye protection shall be provided where a risk of eye injury exists. Typical hazards might include flying particles, dust, splashing substances, harmful gases, vapours, aerosols, and high intensity radiation from welding operations.

Hearing protection shall be provided where a risk of noise induced hearing loss exists. The need for hearing protection shall be assessed from the conduct of noise surveys in potential noise hazard areas.

Respiratory protection shall be provided, after all other practicable measures have been taken to provide control measures, to ensure that no staff member is exposed to an atmosphere that is or may be injurious to health.

Protective clothing and sunscreen shall be provided for staff who are required to work outdoors and are exposed to the sun's rays for continuous periods in a day. Direct exposure of the skin to UV radiation from outdoor work shall be minimised by providing hats, long sleeves/trousers and an adequate supply of sunscreen.

Hand protection shall be provided where there is an identified hazard associated with a potential for hand injury. A list of hazards shall be compiled for each workplace and suitable hand protection obtained to minimise risk.

Protective footwear (safety footwear) shall be provided where the nature of the work exposes the employee to a medium to high risk of injury to feet, eg occupations such as workshop/maintenance and gardening staff.

High visibility safety vests shall be provided and worn where there is a risk of injury associated with working on or near roadways or near moving traffic or moving plant.

Compliance with requirements to use PPE by individual(s), including staff, students, visitors and volunteers should be monitored. Where there is non-compliance this shall be investigated to ascertain the reason(s) and handled in accordance with human resources or student management procedures.

PPE Program

All University workplaces shall develop a PPE program outlining:

approved PPE items and where they shall be worn
who is required to wear it and whether it is provided for general or exclusive use
the type of PPE that students are required to provide themselves for practical studies or fieldwork
how PPE will be issued
the initial training and ongoing instruction needed
specific precautions that apply, eg cleaning/replacement
replacement arrangements
who is to clean and/or service the PPE
signage required at the point of required use
what supervision will be provided
what regular inspections of PPE are necessary
storage arrangements.