PPE regulation changes from 6 April: how it affects you

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPER) will be undergoing significant changes as of 6 April, that will extend the responsibilities of employers when it comes to providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to those working for them.

There are some important distinctions being made in the new updates that may well affect how you operate, especially if you use or need to provide PPE as part of your work.

 

Construction PPE including hard hat, hi vis and bootsChanges to PPE regulations

The purpose of the upcoming changes – now called the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2022 (PPER 2022) – is to extend the health and safety responsibilities of employers to protect all types of employment contracts, not just direct employees. The PPER 2022 swaps out the term ‘employee’ for ‘worker’ – which reflects the broader range of people for whom employers need to supply PPE.

Some of the other types of employment contracts that will covered under PPER 2022 as of 6 April are identified as ‘limb (b) workers’ who:

  • carry out work on a casual or irregular basis for one or more number of organisation(s),
  • have some employment rights such as holiday pay but not the minimum period of statutory notice, after one month of continuous service
  • choose to carry out work on a more ad-hoc basis
  • have a verbal or written contract or other arrangement to carry out work for a reward and can choose to swap shifts so their employer can subcontract someone else to carry out the work instead.
  • are not self-employed and advertise their service to customers directly

In summary, there aren’t any changes to employers’ current responsibilities in providing sufficient PPE to those on a direct contract of employment, but they’re now also required to provide PPE and its related training to limb (b) workers unless they’re genuinely self-employed.

 

Need support with the upcoming PPE legislation changes?

Recognised as one of the UK’s leading health and safety accreditation providers, we proudly uphold a strong reputation for providing our clients with excellent services, high quality support and expertise while working across a wide range of industries.

We understand that running your site or business is your top priority which is why we want to make sure you’re doing it safely and compliantly. If you’d like the support from our team of health and safety experts regarding the upcoming changes to PPE regulations, you can get in touch by calling 01752 643962.