Personal protective equipment

Equipment worn or held by a person to protect them from risks to health or safety at work. PPE is the last resort in the hierarchy of controls and must be suitable, maintained and replaced when necessary.

Also known as

PPE

By jurisdiction

🇬🇧

UK HSE

“personal protective equipment”PPEExact equivalent

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/84) require employers and workers in a limb-b worker arrangement to ensure PPE is provided where risks cannot be controlled by other means. PPE must be suitable for the purpose, maintained in working order, and used in accordance with information and training provided.

RegulatoryPersonal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/84)Source

🇮🇪

Irish HSA

“personal protective equipment”Close equivalent

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (Part 2, Chapter 3) require employers to provide suitable PPE where risks cannot adequately be controlled by other means. PPE must be appropriate for the risks, fitted to the user, and maintained in good working order.

Jurisdiction note: The Irish PPE provisions implement the EU PPE Directive. Post-Brexit GB has its own PPE Regulations 2022. The requirements are substantially equivalent.

RegulatorySafety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, Part 2, Chapter 3Source

🇺🇸

US OSHA

“personal protective equipment”PPEClose equivalent

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132 requires employers to assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present and, if so, to select and have each affected employee use suitable PPE. PPE must be maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition.

Jurisdiction note: OSHA PPE requirements are similar in principle but the assessment duty (1910.132(d)) is more explicit. UK and Irish regulations emphasise PPE as a last resort more explicitly.

Regulatory29 CFR 1910.132Source

Practitioner note: Last resort in the hierarchy of controls — never the primary means of control. COSHH reg 7(1) explicitly requires other controls to be used first.