PPE Regulations Are Changing   

8 February 2022

HSE has prepared interim guidance explaining the changes that come into place from 6 April 2022.

Personal protective equipment at work (Third edition)

The responsibilities of employers concerning the provision of PPE are changing from 6 April 2022.

One of the most significant changes to the PPE Regulations 2022 sees employers now responsible for providing PPE to “workers” rather than just “employees”.

For the purposes of these regulations, a worker either has a contract of employment with you, or have a more casual employment relationship and work under a contract for service, such as labour only sub-contractors.

The new regulations set out in paragraph 3 the definition of a worker as follows, with limb (b) being the additional description:

"worker" means 'an individual who has entered into or works under -

(a) a contract of employment; or

(b) any other contract, whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing, whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract whose status is not by virtue of the contract that of a client or customer of any profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual;

By 6th April this year you will have to ensure that there is no difference in the way PPE is provided to your employees or workers.

These changes to the regulations do not alter the fact that PPE should still be regarded as the last resort to protect against risks to health and safety, and that engineering controls and safe systems of work should always be considered first.

The duty is to assess the risks to all workers in the definition, to provide (free of charge) appropriate PPE, to maintain it, ensure it is correctly stored and used properly, as well as providing training on its use.

The HSE have said that their inspectors already include assessment of PPE as part of their routine inspections, so they will continue to do this and ensure that all "workers" are properly provided for. They point out that enforcement action can range from verbal or written advice to enforcement notices and even prosecutions in the most serious of cases.

Click her for guidance on the PPE duties and the importance of PPE.

For further advice, please get in touch today.