Key takeaways
  • PPE selection must follow a hazard assessment. Issuing what the catalogue suggests is not selection.
  • Fit determines protection. Respirators, gloves and harnesses that do not fit provide the appearance of protection.
  • Most non-compliance is a comfort, fit or availability problem, not an attitude problem.
What non-compliance usually means
The equipment is wrong, not the person

Gloves too bulky for the task, glasses that fog, ear defenders that make communication impossible, a respirator that does not seal on a bearded face. Enforcement without fixing these produces resentment and no protection.

Selection

  • Start from the hazard assessment: what specifically is being protected against, at what exposure level.
  • Match the specification to the hazard. Chemical gloves are rated per chemical and per breakthrough time, not generically.
  • Consider the task, not just the hazard: dexterity, grip, visibility, communication and heat.
  • Check compatibility, since glasses, respirators, hearing protection and helmets interfere with each other.
  • Involve the people who will wear it in the trial. A trial of one option is not a trial.

Fit

Tight-fitting respirators require fit testing per individual and per model, and facial hair at the seal defeats them regardless of the test. Harnesses need adjusting to the person. Gloves come in sizes that matter for both protection and dexterity. Stocking one size of anything is a decision to protect some people and not others.

Inspection and replacement

  • Define pre-use checks the wearer performs, and make the criteria concrete.
  • Define replacement triggers: damage, contamination, expiry, or a defined period.
  • Fall arrest equipment requires documented periodic inspection by a competent person.
  • Make replacement immediate and frictionless. If getting a new pair of gloves takes a supervisor's approval, people will keep using the damaged pair.

Training that goes beyond 'wear it'

People need to know what the equipment protects against and, importantly, what it does not. A dust mask worn for solvent vapour offers a sense of protection and none of the substance, and that misunderstanding is common enough to be worth addressing explicitly.

Records worth keeping

Who was issued what and when, fit test results and their expiry, inspection records for fall arrest and other periodically inspected items, and training records. These matter after an incident, and they also make the replacement cycle visible rather than reactive.