Effective Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - China
Where health risks cannot be avoided or processes can not be improved , the use of appropriate personal protective equipment can also be an effective measure to protect the health of workers. Personal Protective Equipment refers to special articles worn during working activities, which includes protective hats, protective clothing, eye protection, face shields, respiratory protection equipment, anti-noise equipment and skin protective articles. These devices can eliminate or relieve the influence of factors potentially risking the health of laborers, and are the necessary auxiliary measures. Experience indicates that if people wear PPE as required by relevant national standards, many occupational diseases can be relieved or avoided. Where working conditions are less well managed and there is a high risk of accidents or occupational diseases, wearing PPE may be the main protecting measure for workers.
The Code of Occupational Disease Prevention of PRC, Labor Law of the People's Republic of China and Production Safety Law of the People's Republic of China all have strict provisions for PPE, and require the employer to provide the compliant PPE for laborers.
This Code specifies:
That the employer must provide effective facilities and personal protective equipment and that these articles must comply with applicable regulations for disease prevention (Article 20 Code of Occupational Disease Prevention),
That the workers are entitled to request such articles for personal use (Article 36 Code of Occupational Disease Prevention)
The employing unit must provide laborers with occupational safety and health conditions conforming to the provisions of the State and necessary articles of labor protection, and provide regular health examination for workers engaged in work with occupational hazards (Article 54 Labor Law of the PRC),
That production and business operations must provide labor protection articles that meet national or industrial standards to all workers, supervise and educate them to wear or use these articles according to the prescribed rules (Article 37 of Production Safety Law of the People's Republic of China).
Article 14 of Order 1 Provisions on the Supervision and Administration of Labor Protection Articles issued by State Administration of Work Safety also stipulates that production and business operations must provide workers with protective articles according to the Selection Rules of Articles for Labor Protection Use (GB11651).
In practice, however, much PPE fail to be properly applied because employers and workers do not understand the relevant national standards, do not have relevant knowledge of PPE nor do they understand the importance of PPE. Also, some employers think the purchase of PPE will increase production costs, or workers feel uncomfortable when wearing PPE.
Helpful Notes for Selection PPE:
Choose appropriate PPE. Companies must select appropriate and compliant protective equipment, and not, for example, use cotton cloth respirators as substitutes for dustproof respirators and anti-poison respirator, or use general operating protective clothing as a substitute for special operating protective clothing.
Raise the awareness of using PPE. Training on the need for using the PPE provided should be reinforced for personnel who need to use this through various approaches, such as training classes, brochures, posters, slogans etc., so as to enable them to understand the purpose and meaning of using PPE and skillfully master the usage.
Practice the usage for the equipment with complex structure and usage. Taking respiratory protection equipment as an example, workers should practice the usage repeatedly, so as to quickly and correctly wear, take off, and use the equipment, and get used to the resistance of respiratory protection equipment.
Replace PPE regularly. Companies should determine the service life of the PPE (according to the level of occupational hazards at the work place), frequency and length of use of equipment, and the detailed materials of the protective equipment. Companies should also promptly discard and supplement the equipment, so as to ensure the effective protection of PPE and the satisfaction of operators’ demands on protection and safety.
Companies should appoint nominated personnel to distribute, collect, and maintain PPE, so as to prolong the service life of PPE and ensure the protective effect. For example, ear defenders, eye protectors, and face shields could be cleaned with soap and water after use, be sterilized by solvent and be subject to air drying. Filter materials of the filtration-type respiratory protection equipment should be replaced regularly. The pathway of the filtration container should be covered to avoid invalidation. Protective clothing shall be washed immediately after use.
