Personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is anything used or worn by a person to minimise a risk to the person’s health or safety. 

PPE includes items such as:

• eye protection for example, goggles, glasses and face shields
• hearing protection for example, ear plugs and ear muffs
• respiratory protection for example, filter respirators, air line respirators and SCBA
• foot protection for example, safety shoes and boots, spats and rubber gum boots
• head protection for example, hard hats, helmets and broad brimmed hats
• body protection for example, aprons, overalls, gloves and high visibility clothing
• any substance used to protect health, for example, sunscreen.

When selecting PPE to minimise a risk to health and safety, the person conducting a business or undertaking  must ensure the equipment is:

• suitable for the nature of the work and any hazard associated
• a suitable size and fit and reasonably comfortable for the person to wear
• maintained, repaired or replaced so it continues to minimise the risk to the worker
• used or worn by the worker, so far as is reasonably practicable.

Using PPE

PPE is one of the least effective ways of controlling risks to health and safety and should only be used:

• when there are no other practical control measures available 
• as an interim measure until a more effective way of controlling the risk can be  used 
• to supplement higher level control measures.

Choosing PPE

When choosing the right PPE for the job, the selection processes must include consultation with workers and also include:

• an evaluation of the risk and performance requirements for the PPE 
• compatibility of PPE items where more than one type of PPE is required
• consultation with the supplier to ensure PPE is suitable for the work and workplace conditions 
• preference for PPE that complies with the relevant Australian Standard or equivalent standard.