Legal Requirements - Personal Protective Euipment (PPE)

[Neels Nortje]

There are several key aspect to consider before issuing Personal Protective Equipment to employees. One of which is to make every effort to remove or minimize the hazards that persons are exposed to before deciding on the type of PPE to supply.

For a quick legal check on the requirements related to PPE visited our blog at http://kznmba.blogspot.com or go directly to the topic in the blog by clicking on http://kznmba.blogspot.com/2009/01/l...rotective.html

[Neil Enslin]

As Neels pointed out on the legal requirements for providing PPE to employees by the employer, below are some tips on how to make sure employees wear their PPE as required:


In terms of General Safety Regulation 2 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, OHS Act, 85 of 1993, an employer has a legal duty to provide personal protective equipment (PPE), if it is required, and to enforce the use of it.

Employees have a legal duty in terms of Section 14 of the OHS Act to take care of themselves and others, as well as complying with the measures that the employer puts in place for their protection.

Make it a condition of employment that your employees must comply with all health and safety measures. Document it in your employment contracts. This will formalize your requirement for legal compliance.

Make sure that:

• Managers wear their PPE and act as role models at all times
• Employees have been issued with PPE
• The PPE is the correct size and type to protect the person from the hazard to which they are exposed
• Employees have been trained in the correct use, maintenance and storage of their PPE
• Supervisors reinforce the need to wear the PPE regularly and insist that correct PPE is worn at all times
• Employees are counseled on the risks associated with not wearing PPE
• Colleagues are encouraged to motivate each other for safe work practices which include using PPE
• As a last resort enforce your disciplinary code for non-compliance with company requirements