Why Do You Have To Wear Ppe In The Workplace

My current place of work provides policies and procedures about the use of protective equipment and how/when you must use them as PPE is essential when working within hazardous activities such as disposing of hazardous waste, preparing/handling meals, cleaning etc.

| State why and when health and safety control equipment, identified by the principles of protection, should be used relating to types, purpose and limitations of each type, the work situation, occupational use and the general work environment, in relation to:–   collective protective measures–   personal protective equipment (PPE)–   respiratory protective equipment (RPE)–   local exhaust ventilation (LEV).

The use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), like plastic aprons, gloves footwear when handling contaminated items, including items contaminated with body fluids, and disposing of waste,

The provision and use of personal protective equipment could include using gloves, glasses, earmuffs, aprons, safety footwear, dust masks.

You should wear the correct PPE for the job i.e LEV when working in a closed environment. Read all hazard boards.

4.2: The potential risks of infection within the workplace can be very high in a care home as you are constantly coming into contact with people who may have infections, handling waste material which could be contaminated and working in an environment and with equipment which could be contaminated. This is why it is extremely important to wear the correct PPE and use the correct hand washing procedure and use the correct cleaning products.

5.4 Current regulations set out by the health and safety executive are, 1) Every employer shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that any personal protective equipment provided to his employees by virtue of regulation 4 (1) is properly used. (2) Every employee shall use any personal protective equipment provided to them by virtue of these Regulations in accordance both with any training in the use of the personal protective equipment concerned which has been received by him and the instructions respecting that use which have been provided to him by virtue of regulation 9. (3) Every self-employed person shall make full and proper use of any personal protective equipment provided to him by virtue of regulation 4(2). (4) Every employee and self-employed person who has been provided with personal protective equipment by virtue of regulation 4 shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that it is returned to the accommodation provided for it after use

These regulations seeks to ensure that where the risks cannot be controlled by other means, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is correctly selected and used.

To comply with health and safety regulations you must be wearing the correct clothing and footwear to ensure no one gets harmed. For example only closed toe shoes may be

The purpose of PPE is to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls

wearing their hard hats (See pic #4 attached below). This as we know is unacceptable which can

This means the staff were following contact precautions, which is great. The problem I see with this is the isolation cart is far away from the patient’s room. This most likely means that the PPE was carried through the hallway. This means the contaminates on the PPE were exposed to really anyone that may have been using the hallway for access. Another issue is the patient’s family members were never communicated with about wearing PPE to protect themselves. This should have been discussed before they were ever allowed in the room. Luckily, the nurse later notified them and they complied with the precautions without any hesitation.

Relating back to my previous work I noted that it was essential that nurses wore aprons during patient care, ensuring that they discarded of them after patient contact. Not only does wearing an apron act as a barrier it is also recognised as a type of PPC (Personal protective clothing). Cadlin J, Stark S (2005) suggests that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (1991, 1992) says “Health and Safety Regulations require that all healthcare employees are provided with personal protective clothing”. However McCullough (1998) suggests that nurses’ uniforms are not considered protective clothing and that protection within the NHS is provided by the use of disposable aprons. Surprisingly some healthcare workers and qualified nurses were not discarding aprons after patient contact, not only is this bad practice but it increases the risk of cross infection between patients. Babb et al (1983) within Candlin J, Stark S (2005) article found that “although micro-organisms can survive for varying lengths of time and adhere to plastic aprons, they do not multiply and are difficult to redistribute”.

Safety gloves is important for workers in the workplaces, when they are doing their jobs.The function of safety gloves is to prevent hand from skin injuries. When workers do not wear this safety gloves ,they will increase the risk to hurt their hands and can cause skin problems . Workers in workshops need to wear it to prevent hand hurt.

A machine shop environment: activities that are undertaken in a machine shop environment can be things such as but not limited to milling, drilling, the use of lathes and the use of heavy duty machinery and due to such an accident and injury prone environment the PPE at work regulation 1992 is applicable. This regulation states that the employers are required to ensure that suitable PPE is used by the employees as well as keeping the PPE free of charge within the company. The PPE must be applicable for the activity at hand and the risks that may come along with it. The PPE must include equipment’s such as safety helmets, goggles as well as protective face masks. It must also be providing equipment such as air filters, overalls safety boots and gloves as well as ear defenders. It is also the employers’ job to provide competent training to their staff and provide the instructions on the use of the equipment.