Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 cover the protective equipment issued for work. This guide covers what they require, the 2022 changes and how they apply on a lift or machine move.

Overview

What the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 cover

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 cover the protective equipment employers issue for work, from safety helmets to harnesses. They set out when an employer must issue it and what makes it suitable for the job.

In short

PPE is the last resort, for a risk that other, equally or more effective measures have not adequately controlled.
In Great Britain, since 6 April 2022, the employer’s duties cover limb (b) workers as well as employees.
Workers cannot be charged for the PPE they need, or for storing, maintaining or replacing it.
Before choosing PPE, the employer checks it is suitable for the risk and for the person wearing it.

Full title	Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
Reference	SI 1992/2966
Current version	The Regulations as amended, including by SI 2022/8. legislation.gov.uk lists no outstanding changes to the revised text.
Publisher	The National Archives, on legislation.gov.uk
Status	In force
Legal status	Regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. HSE’s guidance is L25; there is no Approved Code of Practice. Contravening them is a criminal offence.
Extent	Great Britain
Northern Ireland	Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993

Duty holders

Who has duties under the Regulations

The duties fall on employers, who owe them to their workers. The 2022 amendment widened “worker” from employees to limb (b) workers as well: HSE describes them as people who generally work under a contract for service, with a more casual relationship than an employee. HSE’s page on the 2022 changes notes that the extension does not cover the self-employed. A relevant self-employed person, defined below, provides suitable PPE for themselves (regulation 4).

Workers use PPE as they were trained and instructed, and take reasonable steps to put it back in its storage after use (regulation 10). If they lose it or find an obvious defect in it, they tell their employer straight away (regulation 11).

The Regulations do not apply to the normal ship-board work of a sea-going ship’s crew. Where the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002, the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017, the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, COSHH 2002 or the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 require PPE against a risk, regulations 4 and 6 to 12 do not apply to that risk; the compatibility duty in regulation 5 still does (regulation 3).

Crew in hi-vis clothing and safety helmets working beside air source heat pump units on a flat roof — Crew in hi-vis clothing and helmets beside heat pump units on a flat roof.

Requirements

What the Regulations require

Under regulation 4, every employer provides suitable PPE to workers who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety at work, except where and to the extent that the risk is adequately controlled by other means that are equally or more effective. Suitable means it:

is appropriate for the risks, the conditions where exposure may occur and how long it is worn for
takes account of ergonomic needs, the wearer’s state of health and the characteristics of their workstation, and can be adjusted to fit the wearer correctly
so far as is practicable, prevents or adequately controls the risk without increasing the overall risk
meets the product law that applies to it, which L25 identifies as Regulation (EU) 2016/425 as incorporated into UK law

Regulations 5 to 10 add these duties.

Where someone needs more than one item at once, the items must be compatible, and each must stay effective against its risk (regulation 5).
Before choosing PPE, the employer assesses whether it is suitable (regulation 6).
The employer keeps PPE in efficient working order and good repair, and cleans or replaces it as needed (regulation 7), and provides somewhere suitable to keep it when it is not in use (regulation 8).
Workers get the information, instruction and training they need, covering the risks the PPE protects against and how to use it, in a form they can follow (regulation 9). The employer then takes all reasonable steps to make sure it is properly used (regulation 10).

Section 9 of the 1974 Act bars employers from charging employees for anything done or provided to meet a specific requirement of health and safety law, and regulation 3A extends this to workers: the PPE, its storage, its maintenance, its replacement and the training to use it.

Lifting

How the Regulations apply to lifting and machine moving

L25 calls PPE the last resort: it protects only the person wearing it, and it can restrict movement or visibility. HSE’s lift planning guidance says loads should not be suspended over occupied areas where that can be avoided. The area below a load suspended for a significant period is a danger zone with restricted access.

HSE’s PPE overview gives safety helmets, gloves, eye and hearing protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and harnesses as examples of PPE. Hearing protection comes under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 instead.
L25 says that on construction sites employers must take all reasonably practicable measures to make sure suitable head protection is worn, unless there is no foreseeable risk of head injury other than from falling. It also notes that turban-wearing Sikhs are exempt by law in any workplace, apart from some emergency response tasks.
A harness used at height is also a personal fall protection system under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, whose Schedule 5 sets requirements for it.
On a machine move, gloves and safety boots affect how the crew handle the load. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 ask whether PPE restricts movement, and HSE’s guidance on them, L23, says protection should not be compromised to make the handling easier.

Two crew members in hard hats and high-visibility clothing on steel access platforms and stairs inside a processing building — Crew in hard hats and hi-vis on the access platforms inside a processing building.

Definitions

Key definitions

Personal protective equipment: all equipment, including clothing that protects against the weather, intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects them against one or more risks to their health or safety (regulation 2). Regulation 3(2) leaves out ordinary working clothes and uniforms that do not specifically protect the wearer, and equipment for protection while travelling on a road, among other things.
Worker: someone working under a contract of employment (limb (a)), or under any other contract to do work personally for the other party, unless that party is a client or customer of the individual’s own profession or business (limb (b)).
Employer: the person who employs a worker under the worker’s contract.
Relevant self-employed person: a self-employed person, other than a worker, whose work is of a kind listed in the regulations made under section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, such as construction.

Enforcement

Enforcement and penalties

Depending on the main activity at the workplace, HSE or the local council enforces the Regulations. In Great Britain a breach is an offence under section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and our guide to that Act covers notices and penalties. In Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service decides whether to prosecute.

Northern Ireland has the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993 (SR 1993/20), enforced by HSENI and the district councils for their own types of workplace.

Guidance