Page 1 - PPE GUIDELINE
P. 1
Guidelines on the Use of PPE Against Chemical Hazards
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Protection of worker′s safety and health should be of prime concern to employers as
workers are at risk of exposing themselves to various kind of hazard that exist because
of the nature of work involved. Personal protective equipment has been used since
ancient times to give protection to the wearer against harmful elements. Despite their
drawback and limitations, the use of personal protective equipment may, in certain
circumstances, be the only practicable protection. When this is the case these
equipment must be properly selected, used and maintain so that adequate protection
will be provided.
Personal protective equipment is any equipment which is intended to be worn or held
by a person at work and which protects him against one or more risks to health or
safety and any additional accessory designed to meet that objective.
Preference should always be given to safe-place rather than safe-person policies.
′Safe-place′ means that the working environment is ensured free from contaminants or
hazardous conditions or factors which pose a risk to workers or any other person who
may be present at the place of work. It refers to control of risk at the source, which
can be achieved through the application of engineering principles and adoption of a
safe system of work. Risks are eliminated, isolated or minimised.
The use of personal protective equipment, which represents the safe–person approach
offers protection only to the wearer. However, measures controlling the risk at source
can protect everyone at the workplace. Theoretical maximum levels of protection are
seldom achieved with personal protective equipment in practice, and the actual level
of protection is difficult to assess. The use of personal protective equipment may give
a false sense of security to the wearer as the risk is not eliminated but merely prevent
the hazards from being in contact with the worker.
Effective protection is only achieved through suitable, correctly fitted, properly used
and properly maintained personal protective equipment. Another problem with
personal protective equipment is that it may restrict the wearer to some extent by
limiting mobility, or visibility, or by requiring additional weight to be carried. Due to
these reasons the wearing of personal protective equipment to control risk is to be
used as a ′last resort′ or as the ′last line of defence′. Engineering controls and safe
system of work should be considered first. However, in some circumstances personal
protective equipment will still be needed to control the risk of being exposed to
hazards adequately.
Department of Occupational Safety & Health, Ministry of Human Resources, Malaysia October 2005 1
