Feature Health & safety: PPE
Make sure your PPE is up to EU standards
All personal protective equipment is required to meet European safety standards and work equipment supplier Slingsby has produced a guide to ensure workers stand out in high-visibility gear and stay safe this winter
T
he regulations cover all clothing and equipment which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and protects them against risks to their health and safety. PPE includes high-visibility clothing as well as a wide range of other equip- ment including safety footwear, hard hats, goggles and safety harnesses. Lee Wright, marketing director of Slingsby, which supplies more than 35,000 workplace products across all industries, says: “Anyone working in low-visibility environments or in areas where they could go unnoticed must wear high-visibility clothing. Generally speaking the darker the workplace is, the more high-visibility clothing should be worn.
“However wearing high-visibility clothing that’s covered in dirt or is so
old that it no longer has any fluores- cent properties is pointless.
“There are also lots of substandard high-visibility products on sale that offer poor levels of reflection and therefore don’t meet European Standards so it’s vital that employers double-check their offering is on the right side of the law. This is especially true when you consider that high-visi- bility waistcoats that meet EN471 can cost as little as £2.50, so it really isn’t worth taking the risk with inferior products.”
Slingsby has compiled the advice below for employers to follow when they are buying high-visibility clothing: • All high-visibility clothing must meet BS EN471 standards. In some cases products can look similar to gen- uine high-visibility clothing but can be
made of inferior materials that don’t provide sufficient visibility, durability and protection.
• Be sure to check labels on clothing which will include information about class, standards compliance and care instructions.
• Employers are obliged to provide high-visibility clothing to employees free of charge.
• Employers must also provide rele- vant information and instructions as well as an explanation of the risks so employees fully understand when and why the clothing should be worn. • It’s important to think about what other attributes high-visibility clothing could require such as fire resistance or thermal properties.
• High-visibility clothing that is dirty or worn, making it less visible, should be replaced immediately.
• All clothing should be worn prop- erly and be the right size for the person wearing it. Vests and jackets should also be kept closed on the front and sides to ensure visibility from 360 degrees.
• High-visibility garments should con- sist of a minimum visible size of 0.4m2. Finally remember that often other safety measures will be required in addition to high-visibility clothing to create a safe working environment.
Slingsby T: 01274 535030
www.slingsby.com Enter 308
afety equipment specialist uvex has launched its new uvex phynomic safety glove range, which is said to boast three dimensions “absolute purity; perfect fit, and optimum functionality”. The new uvex pure standard is claimed to be estab- lishing new benchmarks in the purity of safety gloves, guaranteeing to protect the health of the wearer and any materials with which the glove comes into contact. The uvex pure standard takes the Okeo-Tex Standard 100 (an international testing and certification system for textiles) further by dermatologically testing the complete glove with 32 of the most allergically susceptible human subjects together with an independent institute, to con- firm the excellent skin compatibility of the product. In addition, the uvex phynomic M1 FOAM model is
approved for use in the food industry. The range leaves no impression on sensitive surfaces and is silicone- free according to imprint testing requirements. Secondly, the phynomic safety glove is said to fit like a second skin. This, together with uvex’s 3D ergo tech- nology, allows for precision and a natural dexterity, while maintaining complete freedom of movement, especially when the work involves delicate or fine components. At the heart of the 3D ergo technology is a combi- nation of a 15-gauge fine-knit polyamide and elastane liner complemented by a new, elastic, aqua polymer coating. The basis for a perfect fit is created by the special, anatomically formed, 3D ergo hand shape.
Factory Equipment JANUARY 2013
Safety glove sets standards in purity, fit and functionality S
Thirdly the innovative aqua polymer coating gives the uvex phynomic range excellent grip in both wet and dry conditions. When working in dry, wet or oily envi- ronments, the thin and robust aqua polymer coating guarantees optimum functionality and safe working, as well as high durability.
The 80 per cent aqua polymer coating of the blue uvex phynomic M1 WET makes it suitable for wet and oily environments where water and emulsions drip off, but oil is absorbed still allowing the wearer to achieve excel- lent grip. The 50 per cent aqua polymer coating of the
white uvex phynomic M1 FOAM is the best choice for dry and very light oil applications. Both models conform to the most rigorous uvex climazone standard criteria concerning breathability and hand climate control. Graham Abbott, sales director of uvex-safety UK, says: “The new uvex phynomic safety glove is a major step forward in hand protection and is already setting a new standard among knitted safety gloves for precision work.” uvex T: 01252 731200
www.uvex-safety.co.uk
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