Personal Protective Equipment serves a crucial function in the modern workplace. It’s there to reduce the risk of an accident occurring, and to reduce the impact of those that do. Research by the HSE reveals that around 24,000 accidents reported over a seven-year period might have been prevented with the correct use of PPE.

It’s about reducing risk

You might note that no piece of protective equipment can offer perfect, absolutely reliable protection. Sometimes, the hazard is so great and unavoidable that it can’t be reasonably anticipated. The same applies to certain strokes of bad luck.

What we can do is manage the risk. If, every year, hundreds of people are injured because of a failure to wear head protection, then we can be reasonably sure of the wisdom in insisting on head protection in industries where the risk is most acute.

The cost of non-compliance

Of course, not every company takes their responsibilities seriously when it comes to health and safety. This imposes a number of costs, many of which can’t be easily measured. Your company might suffer a loss of reputation, which might make it more difficult to attract new recruits, or to retain customers.

In other cases, however, we can measure the costs. Billions of pounds in productivity are lost every year because of workplace injuries that might have been prevented. On top of this, we have the legal costs that come with non-compliance. Not only might you suffer direct legal action from an injured employee, but you might also be targeted under the Health and Safety Act 1974.

How you can ensure compliance

It can be difficult to instil a culture of PPE into a company which has heretofore lacked one. If you’re a construction worker who has gotten by without wearing a hard hat for thirty years, then changing your ways might be difficult. Old dogs, famously, have difficulty learning new tricks!

But we should remember that employees have a responsibility, too. If they are provided with the appropriate PPE, and the training needed to use it properly, then it is their responsibility to wear it. Make this clear to your workforce, and impose penalties for workers who fail to make the standard. Only when you make your expectations clear will your employees be able to consistently meet them.

If you don’t take this seriously, then you might be found to have created an unsafe working environment. Make sure that workers are encouraged to come forward with their observations and objections, and try to collaborate to build the culture of PPE that will ultimately make your workers safer, more productive, and ultimately happier.