DESCRIPTION
The management team at Express Asphalt in Newark were concerned that analysis of incidents had identified that, the injuries incurred might have been either avoided or their severity reduced if the injured party had been wearing the correct PPE.
In particular, a recent spell of eye injuries, revealed that workers had been carrying out a task above head height and had some object or debris make contact with their eyes. They were wearing standard safety glasses rather than sealed safety glasses or goggles which would have prevented the eye contact.
To help improve PPE selection one of the managers designed a ‘PPE Selection Flowchart’ that could be used to aid people in selecting the appropriate items of PPE for the specific task they were about to undertake. The flowchart is designed to prompt thought during
the risk assessment and method statement process. Once all the risks have been identified and, as part of implementation of control measures, the PPE selection flowchart could be used as a tool to guide the operator in the selection of the appropriate PPE.
The draft PPE flowchart was reviewed by managers and all the operators, they provided feedback on how it might be improved. This process was used to create a suite of PPE flowcharts. The charts use images and help the user follow a process of elimination to select the most appropriate item of PPE to protect them whilst undertaking the task.
The flowcharts are easily accessible, for example they are placed on the health and safety board where most of the risk assessments and method statements are written. There are also laminated copies in the risk assessment folders.
BENEFITS
- Positive feedback from all levels
- Simple and largely pictorial design makes easy to use
- Easy to use in site inductions
- Less chance of operator or contractor selecting inappropriate PPE