Types of Personal Injury Claim - Safety and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Safety and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Employers are under a duty to ensure that suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is provided to employees at risk to their health and safety while at work as part of their duty of care. Employers must ensure that PPE is appropriate to the risk involved, the conditions at the place where the exposure to the risk may occur and that it takes into account not only the nature of the work involved, but also the health of the persons who are required to wear it.
Common examples of PPE are as follows:
- Gloves and gauntlets
- Eye shields/eye goggles
- Safety helmets, scalp protectors (bump caps) and hairnets
- Safety boots and safety footwear
- High visibility clothing
- Ear protection/earplugs/ear defenders
- Safety harnesses or back supports
- Postal pegs
- Respiratory face masks
- Body protection including protective overalls and clothing for cold, heat and bad weather
- Life jackets
Not only must the employer identify what PPE would be appropriate for the nature of the work that employees are required to undertake, but they must also have effective systems of maintaining PPE as this is essential to ensure that it continues to provide the necessary degree of protection.
Typical injuries caused by a failure to provide any or any adequate PPE can include:
- Cuts and puncture wounds
- Suffering burns and scalding injuries from hot surfaces and exposure to chemicals etc
- Head injuries caused by falling objects
- Noise induced deafness/hearing loss
- Breathing in harmful fumes or toxins
- Eye damage
- Frostbite/cold exposure
- Crush injuries
- Electrical shock injuries
- Chemical splashes and burns
- Welding flashes
If your employer hasn’t provided you with adequate protective equipment for your job or has failed to maintain the equipment provided and you suffer from an accident or other illness, we have a dedicated team of specialist employer liability lawyers who can help you. For a free consultation speak to one of the team by calling us on freephone 0800 298 6013 or complete our claim form below today.
