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QHSE Glossary

PPE

Personal Protective Equipment — wearable equipment designed to protect workers from health and safety hazards.

PPE

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is a critical concept in quality, health, safety, and environmental management.

What Is PPE?

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is equipment worn or held by a person at work to protect against one or more risks to health or safety. PPE is the last resort in the hierarchy of controls — it should only be used when risks cannot be adequately controlled by other means (elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls). Common types include: head protection (hard hats to BS EN 397), eye protection (safety glasses to BS EN 166), hearing protection (to BS EN 352), respiratory protection (to BS EN 149), hand protection (gloves to BS EN 388), foot protection (safety footwear to BS EN ISO 20345), and fall protection (harnesses to BS EN 361).

PPE Requirements Under UK Law

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022) require employers to: assess PPE needs (Regulation 6), ensure PPE is compatible (Regulation 5), maintain PPE (Regulation 7), provide storage (Regulation 8), provide information and training (Regulation 9), and ensure PPE is used (Regulation 10). The PPE Regulation 2018 (UK) implements EU Regulation 2016/425 on PPE placed on the market. PPE must be CE/UKCA marked. Employers must provide PPE free of charge. HSE estimates that workplace injuries could be reduced by 30-50% with proper PPE selection and use.

Key Components of PPE

  • Head protection
  • Eye and face protection
  • Hearing protection
  • Respiratory protective equipment
  • Hand and arm protection
  • Foot and leg protection
  • Body protection (high-vis/thermal)
  • Fall protection
  • Combination PPE

PPE in Practice

A construction company (200 employees across 8 sites) manages PPE in Q-Hub. Each site has a PPE matrix linking tasks to required PPE — e.g., concrete cutting requires: hard hat (BS EN 397), safety goggles (BS EN 166 grade B), RPE (FFP3 mask to BS EN 149), ear defenders (BS EN 352-1, SNR 30dB), cut-resistant gloves (BS EN 388 level 5), and safety boots (BS EN ISO 20345 S3). Q-Hub tracks PPE issue dates, inspection dates, replacement schedules, and training records. Monthly PPE compliance audits via mobile app show 96% compliance across all sites.

How to Manage PPE with Q-Hub

Q-Hub provides comprehensive tools for PPE management. The Smart Forms module handles the core requirements, integrated with document control, audit scheduling, training management, and KPI dashboards to ensure your PPE processes are audit-ready at all times.

Related Terms

Want to see how Q-Hub handles PPE in practice? Book a demo or see pricing.

Related QHSE Terms

  • AS9100 — The aerospace quality management standard, based on ISO 9001 with additional requirements for aviati
  • Audit — A systematic, independent examination of processes, products, or systems to verify compliance with d
  • Bow-Tie Analysis — A visual risk assessment method that maps the causes of an event, the event itself, its consequences
  • CAPA — Corrective and Preventive Action — a systematic approach to investigating root causes of non-conform
  • COSHH — Control of Substances Hazardous to Health — UK regulations requiring employers to control exposure t
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