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PPE stands for
Personal Protective Equipment.
PPE is used in all areas of industry.
Its purpose is to protect employees from hazards, for example, steel toe capped boots on building sites and hard hats when there is risk of head injury from falling objects.
PPE is used whenever there is a period of contact or activity which has the potential to harm an employee or a person being supported.
It is also designed to protect anyone else in, or visiting, the care setting or an individual’s own home.
The employer will risk assess all situations and provide written instructions on the equipment which must be used and why.
Let us look at how the most commonly used PPE in social care can protect you.
They come from “to do on” as in “don” and “to do off” as in “doff”. The terms can also apply to other clothing and uniforms.
Have you heard the expression “doffing a hat”? This is when a person lifts their hat, usually with a nod, as an expression of recognition, respect, gratitude or simply to say hello.
PPE must be readily available to staff.
It must be stored and used according to manufacturers’ instructions and out of the reach of individuals and visitors, particularly children, because PPE may present a hazard in itself.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Employer has a legal duty to provide safe systems of work and this includes the provision of appropriate PPE.
The employee has a legal duty to use the PPE supplied in protecting him or herself and “others who may be affected by what he or she does, or does not do.”
In some social care settings, the risks from hazardous substances may be greater and therefore the protection needed may be different.
In settings where individuals have depressed immune response, the emphasis will be on protecting the individual from microbes that are carried in by employees and visitors, so the PPE requirements will be different.
