Chris Ellerby,Scott Safety’s Product Manager for PPE,talks about sensory protection products

How long have you been working in the health
and safety industry?
I came to Scott Safety in 2002 from the professional
audio industry and whilst it was an entirely new
product set for me, there were many similarities in
that the Scott Safety range includes a number of
very technical products: air supplied breathing
apparatus, powered air purifying respirators and
gas detectors, for example. I started my career at
Scott Safety as Marketing Communications
Manager, which gave me a good grounding in
product knowledge before taking a more
commercial role specialising as a product manager
of the head, face, eye and hearing protection range.

What major changes have you seen in the design or
manufacture of PPE equipment?
Customers have definitely become more demanding in their
requirements and particularly in the way products look and feel.

PPE is now more aligned with fashion in some respects, people
want to be protected, uninhibited in their work, but they also
want to look good whilst they do it. Comfort and look are key
considerations when it comes to product design and advances in
material technology in other industries may benefit the safety
industry in the future.

What do the users of PPE tell you they want?
Most users would prefer not to wear PPE, but recognise they
have to comply from an employee liability perspective and also
for their own health. The challenge really is to protect users
without inhibiting the job they have to do. People always talk
about reduced weight, increased comfort, and increased
breathability, but there is no doubt PPE is following workwear
and people demand to look good. Quite often a product that is
better technically in terms of protection or comfort can lose out
on a tender to something that looks better. At Scott Safety we
strike a balance of all the important factors, comfort, protection
and aesthetics.

How has Scott Safety helped to improve wearer acceptance in
the design of its own products?
Scott Safety adopts a six sigma design philosophy, which is
basically about designing products to the requested market
specification in a reduced time to market, right first time so to
speak. We spend a lot of time talking to customers about their
detailed requirements. Understanding the environment they
work in is crucial, how hot, how cold, what the workers are
actually doing step by step, so we are able to design products that
keep them protected but do not inhibit them performing their
job. I think this is the key, understanding and partnering with
end users and it’s worked very well for us, particularly on new
products like First Base 3 our new baseball bump cap range.

What new products can we expect from Scott Safety in 2012?
We have a number of new products in the pipeline for 2012 and
the first one that I can reveal will be the refresh of our Zone
hearing range, we have given it a stylish new look, retained the
ease of selection with the Zone Yellow, Orange, Red escalating
colour scheme and extended the range to include products
which are specifically aimed at Forestry and Amenity
applications as well as High Visibility ear defenders. We will
also continue the introduction of new First Base 3 variants in
our bump cap range.

Are there particular challenges in meeting customer budgets
at the moment?
There are many headwinds with raw materials, plastics, metals,
rubbers, cotton and emerging markets labour force rates all
increasing. At the same time our distribution partners may
receive fewer orders from end users as everyone tries to cut cost;
so yes its challenging at a time where people want to pay less, our
costs have gone up significantly. The challenge we face and must
overcome is to design out waste in our products and produce
things in a highly efficient manner, without compromising
quality, which is fundamental to the Scott Safety ethos.

How do you keep your customers up to date with changes to
your products?
At Scott Safety we have made real improvements in the way we
communicate with our customers whether that is through a
product bulletin, launch kit, email newsletter or our new
multilingual website. Our salesforce and product managers are
speaking to customers every day, maintaining relationships and
making sure they are kept up to date with new products and
services.

Do customers selecting hearing protection, for example,
understand the regulations that were revised in 2006?
I think the understanding of hearing protection and the need to
wear it has really improved. Most safety managers are aware of
the action levels under the directives. The challenge really is to
get that message across to smaller enterprises. Having recently
had a house extension I noticed lots of trades people that did
not wear hearing protection, self employed people mostly. So
education is a crucial role to play and Scott Safety will be
making more training and guidance presentations and videos
available free to view on our website.

Do you think there are any further innovations that can be
made to PPE products?
Yes absolutely the challenge is always to increase comfort, improve
the styling and introduce technology that makes a difference.

Smart innovation that is what we strive for at Scott Safety.