Personal Protective Equipment is not the ONLY way to prevent workplace injuries

There are numerous ways that employers should identify and assess risks with a view to preventing and reducing them. There should be a hierarchy of prevention and control measures starting with prevention of the risk, and if this is not possible, technical/engineering controls, safe systems of work and information or training should be used instead. 
Unfortunately, some employers encourage workers to use personal protective equipment without ever considering the introduction of prevention and control measures that could eliminate the use of personal protective equipment.

This leads to a number of problems:

• Personal protective equipment protects only the person wearing it, whereas measures controlling the risk at source can protect everyone at the workplace
• Theoretical maximum levels of protection are seldom achieved with personal protective equipment in practice and the actual level of protection is difficult to assess
• Protection is often ineffective because the personal protective equipment is not suitable, incorrectly fitted, not properly maintained, and may be used improperly
• Personal protective equipment may restrict the wearer by limiting mobility or visibility, or by requiring additional weight to be carried. As well as the health and safety problems that this may cause, it can also lead to a blame the worker culture when the personal protective equipment is discarded because of the discomfort that it can cause
• Using personal protective equipment in a hot climate can be very uncomfortable for the worker. For example, using a full-face mask and body protection in full sunshine during the hot season can be almost impossible. It can result in dehydration, headaches and even fainting

Different types of personal protective equipment include:

• helmet or head-protector
• hearing protectors such as ear-plugs or ear-muffs
• eye-protectors such as goggles and face shields
• breathing masks with different types of filters
• gloves of different material
• safety footwear
• protective aprons, overalls or clothing
• wet weather protective clothing
• safety belts and life-lines

Hazards even where technical or engineering controls, safe systems of work and other techniques have been applied, it is possible that some hazards might remain. These hazards may lead to injuries to the:

• lungs, for example, from breathing in contaminated air
• head and feet, for example, from falling materials
• eyes, for example, from flying particles or splashes of corrosive liquids
• ears and hearing from noise
• skin, for example, from contact with corrosive materials
• body, for example, from extremes of heat or cold

Sometimes, personal protective equipment is needed in these cases to reduce the risks, but only to supplement the other risk control measures already put in place.