A conversation with PPE expert, Brad Rodgers of Prochoice Safety Gear.

Perhaps it was part of a dream… ringing, ringing, ringing. Mick sank back to sleep, and snored.

Cathie had always been a light sleeper. The fourth time the phone rang she leapt out of bed, picked it up and hurled it at Mick’s sleeping form. He woke up as the phone bounced off the sheets and started to ring again.

“Don’t you ever remember to turn off-…” Mick cut Cathie short.

“No way. It can’t be. I’ll be out there in two ticks.” Mick threw a jumper over his head and ran out in his shorts. “It’s the oil rig. One of the guys has been hit,” he shouted to Cathie as he ran out the door.

Two months ago, Mick’s company had won their first contract on an oil rig. A specialist contractor, Mick’s company had a reputation for being able to understand complex industrial technology and deliver on budget. With plans for growth, they had tendered for and won the oil rig contract.

When Mick arrived at the rig, the injured worker was lying on a stretcher being assessed by a team of paramedics. Apparently, one of the fork lift drivers had not seen the worker who had climbed on top of a pile of steel struts. The worker had tumbled down off the pile and hit his head, splitting his hard hat and falling unconscious.

A week later, the worker was still recovering in hospital and Mick called an extraordinary board meeting. Amongst other measures, Mick asked his fellow directors to review the personal protective equipment that they issued. Apparently, the injured worker’s high visibility vest had been so worn that it didn’t reflect and the hard hat had given the worker minimal protection. But when the directors looked at the choices available to them, they were bewildered- how should they choose the right PPE?

For most directors, choosing their workers’ wardrobe wasn’t what they signed up for. For Mick and his team, their company policy specified that PPE was to be changed out at end of life. But they had no idea whether this actually happened or not and how long the PPE actually lasted. And they had heard that WorkSafe had prosecuted other directors in a similar position (see the Western Australia case of Fry v Keating[2013] WASCA 109).

As many directors and business owners will know, the legal duty to provide a safe place of work cannot be delegated. The Model Work Health and Safety Regulations (WHS Regulations) that support the harmonisation of OH&S regulation across Australia (except Victoria and Western Australia) specifically require you to identify risks, eliminate them and only if not practicable, then to minimise them. The WHS Regulations view PPE as the last line of defence in risk minimisation.

What happens if your last line of defence fails? And what exactly should you be doing to make sure the PPE you chose keeps your workers safe and your company safe from prosecution? To get some practical ideas, we spoke to Brad Rodgers, R&D Manager at Paramount Safety, about choosing the right PPE.

In Brad’s view, PPE has to be fit for purpose. Taking a common example, often employers will provide a thick glove with a high cut rating to a worker who is only doing manual handling. The worker will not get cut, but the thickness means they will lose dexterity. So they might pick something up clumsily and drop it on their foot, causing injury.

Making sure that PPE is fit for purpose is simply putting into action the legal requirement to manage risks to health and safety. But that does not mean that PPE costs need to blow the company budget either. To get best value for risk minimisation from PPE, Brad recommends taking into account:

  • The life of the PPE product: you could buy a $20 cut resistant glove that lasts you a long time (and protect your employees better) or tens of $5 gloves that don’t give you the level of protection that you need and costs you more in the long run;

  • The cost of lost time due to injury (LTI): each LTI claim costs thousands of dollars to a company. Just one LTI claim can have a significant impact on your workers compensation insurance premiums;

  • Is the PPE really suitable for our environment? Australia has one of the most unique climates in the world. Imported PPE might be certified to American, European or other standards and often these are of world-class quality. But unless they are Australian standards compliant (and preferably independently tested to be compliant), the PPE may not give you the risk minimisation you need for the Australian environment;

  • What exactly you are paying for: there is some very expensive PPE on the market, like gloves, masks or vests. They could be expensive because of materials, R&D or quality. However, just because they are expensive doesn’t mean that they adhere to Australian Standards and have been rigorously tested. Is your dollar being spent on expensive (and possibly untested) materials? Or are you buying reliable and appropriate risk minimisation?

Most PPE these days is sold through distributors who distribute either directly to industry or through online or physical shop fronts. Your first source of information is the distributor. One thing that you may not know is that if your purchase of PPE is below $40,000, you will benefit from the protections set out in the Australian Consumer Law (yes, even if the PPE is for industrial use). That means that distributors cannot give you false and misleading information and have to give you certain guarantees about the PPE you buy.

But you do not want to have to sue anyone to make sure your workers are safe. Rather, look for PPE distributors who have good lines of communications with the wholesalers and manufacturers and who know how the PPE is used in your particular situation and environment.

There is some high quality and good value PPE out there to help companies to manage their OH&S risks. However, we still have to be realistic about what we can expect from PPE. The law states that OH&S risks should first be eliminated and only then managed and minimised with PPE as the last line of defence. Expecting PPE to save lives on its own is a bit like paddling out too far with a life vest, finding yourself in deep water and then blaming it on the life vest: applying some common sense to the context never did any harm.

In our version of Desert Island Discs, we asked Brad what he would recommend if a company could only buy three pieces of PPE.

“Protect the most valuable asset; anything above the shoulders is your control centre. Get eye protection: lose your eyes and you’ll affect not just your work, but your whole life. Hearing protection: once you damage your hearing, you can’t get it back. And get a good hard hat: without your head, you won’t be doing very much!”

Melissa Kirby is Legal Director and Strategist at Sharpe & Abel, a law and strategy firm that serves the manufacturing, engineering, infrastructure and technical professions. You can reach her at melissa.kirby@sharpeandabel.com

Brad Rodgers is the R&D Manager at Prochoice Safety Gear, the company behind ProChoice, WorKit WorkWear and Thorzt. You can reach him at brad@paramountsafety.com.au.

This article first appeared on Safety Snippets.