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Fit to protect

30 January 2023

Well-fitting PPE should be prioritised to maintain safety, compliance and productivity, according to Neil Major.

FOR TOO long, the industry has seemingly side-lined the real need for well-fitting PPE. Finding better solutions for the wide-ranging size requirements of individuals – considering options to cater for all shapes and sizes – is an issue industrial players with PPE requirements should be prioritising.

Ill-fitting PPE is fraught with challenges including jeopardy of safety, significant impact on productivity and non-compliance. 

Thankfully, it’s an issue that is more recognised and coming to the fore, and some PPE manufacturers are making great strides in this area in a bid to tackle some of the key issues around PPE sizing. With emerging innovations leading to some viable solutions in this area, the future for a better fit for all looks bright.

Hazards of ill-fitting PPE

Some of the reasons for ill-fitting PPE include lack of time to source the range of PPE items needed, or cost savings in buying one run of stock in a limited size range, or one-size-fits-all. Sometimes it’s simply down to lack of knowledge of the options available. Whatever the reason, this approach carries risk.

In a scenario where protective gloves are required, for example, a poor fit could result in limited hand dexterity or poor grip. Or, in the case of gloves that are too large, excess material can be caught up in machinery and result in potential injury. If the wearer decides to ditch the gloves due to discomfort or movement hindrance, the dangers of being completely unprotected are obvious. A single non-fatal injury like a damaged hand – which can mean anything from a laceration or sprain, to an amputation – can cost a business an average of £1,400. This can rise to more than £5,000 if an employee needs to take just one week off work, according to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). That figure doesn’t include ongoing impact on ability to perform work tasks or the human cost of such an injury.

The HSE Health & Safety at Work statistics highlighted a loss of six million working days in the UK due to non-fatal workplace injury in 2021/2022, with an estimated £7.6 billion annual cost of work-related injury in 2019/2020. While it’s not easy to quantify the proportion of injuries as a result of poorly fitting PPE, it’s a stark reminder to employers about the dangers of not providing proper protection for workers. Organisations should also be mindful about legal recourse from employees who have suffered injury as a result of not being provided with fit-for-purpose PPE.

And that’s just to highlight one item of PPE. The same hazards can occur from items of PPE clothing. Hi-vis clothing or protective overalls that are too large can also become trapped in machine equipment, for instance, while head or eye protection that is too tight or too loose can be equally dangerous.

The right PPE approach

When PPE becomes uncomfortable to wear – whether it’s protective eyewear, head coverings, face masks, gloves or other clothing – there’s a real risk of the user either ditching them or not wearing them correctly. This not only presents health issues, but is a real risk of non-compliance. 

In a food processing arena, a lapse in PPE use that is designed to protect the process more than the user could result in a contamination issue that leads to a catastrophic outcome. Ill-fitting gloves, if they are too big, could result in a piece of one becoming caught in food processing machinery. This could lead to contamination which is detrimental to business reputation, as well as the end consumer.

The effect of poorly fitting PPE on productivity also can’t be underestimated. When face coverings, headgear or eyewear are having to be worn for long periods of time by the user, it’s not hard to understand how the effects of these not fitting correctly might impact the user’s ability to work optimally. The manufacturing sector is heavily focused on efficiency driven by competition and a need to maximise profit margins. Anything jeopardising productivity is worth diverting attention to and efforts to avoid.

Embrace innovations

The days of small, medium, large and extra-large in a unisex fit should be fizzling out, as the emergence of new products to market come thick and fast. Women need not be simply offered the smallest version of men’s PPE, where footwear, head or face protection and clothing will not be appropriate to cater for the very different body configurations. 

Whether it’s catering for men, women, wheelchair users or people with other requirements due to religious beliefs, employers can find solutions to ensure all their workers are safe, compliant, comfortable and feel included. This is particularly important as workplace diversity and inclusion are high on the agenda.

An employee could receive derogatory comments about ill-fitting PPE from co-workers, which may be doled out in jest, but can be demotivating and demoralising. An employer which is prepared to understand the varying PPE sizing requirements of its workforce, striving to cater for all needs and listen to concerns or feedback, will benefit from more motivated and productive staff – aiding both recruitment and retention.

When it comes to PPE designed specifically for women, manufacturers including Uvex and Sioen offer a range of safety footwear and workwear products. The Uvex range of women’s footwear provides some great options for women working in a variety of industries, while Sioen’s range of women’s workwear offers a high degree of protection while prioritising and catering for the female form. From trousers designed to protect women from electrical flashovers, through to rainproof jackets that ensure avoidance of water penetration via gaps due to poor fit, Sioen’s offering is strong with expansion plans for the women’s workwear range. 

Catering for the increasing diversity in industry, Pulsar has launched products such as a workwear hijab, to negate the dangers of traditional hijabs becoming caught up in machinery or equipment. 

Leverage specialist knowledge and expertise to navigate the PPE product minefield

Researching the many PPE options, and developing a procurement strategy that evolves in line with the organisation’s requirements, can feel like an onerous task, even for those with health and safety specialists on site. This is where using the expertise and knowledge of PPE providers should be fully utilised. A specialist PPE provider can help you devise a bespoke strategy and choosing one that specialises in your specific industry will give you access to in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of the products available, as well as the latest regulations and standards.

They will be able to help you make informed purchasing decisions, enabling you to best serve the PPE needs of the organisation within your available budget. By creating a customised strategy, it is often the case that options previously discounted because of perception of higher cost are not only affordable, but buying what is needed in both the required sizes and appropriate volumes, can even offer cost savings.

By also working with providers offering a breadth of products with reliable supply chains and the right accreditations that assure quality, compliance, traceability and track record of working with ethical suppliers, you can be sure your procurement of PPE products conforms to necessary standards and eliminates risk of sub-standard, or even counterfeit products.

When considering the impact of PPE procurement on safety, productivity, compliance and staff morale, the evidence for organisations to prioritise its importance soon stacks up, while the risks of not doing so are too plentiful to ignore. Add to this the growing emergence of new products, and the case for a one-size-fits-all approach to PPE is no longer an option.

Neil Major is sales director for RS Safety Solutions. For more information, visit https://uk.rs-online.com

 
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