What PPE should an employer supply?

[Northernbird00]

Hi, If I join a production company full time as a technician, what PPE are they legally obliged to supply? 

Work would be warehouse based and then onsite for gigs and events as a technician in different departments. 

Any advice appreciated.

 

[J Pearce]

They are legally obliged to supply any PPE identified as required by the risk assessment for that activity. No more, no less.

[Northernbird00]

I understand that but that is quite vague. I am after specifics for what the basic package should be as a minimum - steel toe caps? hi vis? show blacks? etc 

[J Pearce]

There is no legal minimum - just what the risk assessment for that activity calls for.

We all work in different scenarios - I need toe and midsole protection, hard hat and hearing protection. My stage colleagues sometimes need knee pads and gloves as well but use cheaper hearing protection as they don't need to hear as well. My lighting colleagues use harnesses, both work positioning and fall arrest. FOH need bodily fluid kits and earplugs. Our maintenance tech needs all sorts that I don't need.

 

Show blacks are not PPE. That's uniform, and again may or may not be provided depending on company policy.

[mac.calder]

PPE is a fun one. Some employers tend to be pains in the rear and buy the cheapest they can get away with. Others may reimburse you for a portion of the amount (up to what they may pay for those cheap and nasty ones). And the diamonds in the rough, they will reimburse the lot. Generally, if it is PPE you are using often, you will want to choose your own. Additionally - whilst it is Personal Protective Equipment, nothing says the PPE is dedicated for your use. Many companies issue PPE to their full time employees, and then have a box of PPE for casual staff, or a collection of high vis and hard hats stuffed in the vans for drivers etc. 

 My last job basically had in the contract $100/yr for the purchase of steel caps for full time employees. They had to be boots with ankle support. Good luck finding steel caps for that money. So they went and looked for the cheapest, nastiest boots that met spec, and our allowance was upped to cover those. About $120/year. Most of us wore steel caps that cost in excess of $200... because semi-decent footwear is essential.

Eye and hearing protection - again, typically employers will get the $12 ear protectors and the bulk pack of uncomfortable foam...  again, if you need hearing protection day-in, day-out, you want the good stuff. 

Gloves - again, you want gloves that fit you well and provide enough dexterity to do your job. I've seen a lot of horrible company issued gloves in my time.

Hard hats - in Australia at least they have an expiry date (AS/NZS 1800:1998 says 2 years on the harness, 3 on the hat) - and to be honest, in most live event scenarios are more safety theatre than anything. Go with what you are given.

Harness - unless you are a rigger or have other legitimate reasons to be in a harness on the regular, chances are you are looking at shared PPE there. It's fairly typical (at least in Australia) that things like harnesses for boom lift work etc ride with the boom lift.

As mentioned above, blacks are uniform not PPE. High vis - typically if blacks are expected, the high vis you may be issued/loaned will be a vest. These are fine for short periods... longer periods you want a high vis shirt.

The long and the short of it, your employer will supply exactly as much PPE as they need to supply. If you are going to need it on the regular... splurge and get comfortable stuff.

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by mac.calder

[kerry davies]

Mac has it right but long answer short, if you don't want to share it, buy it yourself.

You wouldn't share show blacks or boots so you buy 'em. Disposables like foam earplugs the employer generally supplies but only in rare cases like Gridgirl's orchestra would custom moulds be supplied. Gloves fall between the stools as heavy duty battery acid gloves would be an RA item supplied and I used to supply riggers gloves but most people don't like sharing sweat so buy their own manual handling kit.

Basically though if you join a production company on PAYE and they will supply what they consider necessary. Join as self-employed, you are the employer, you do the providing. 

[dje]

6 hours ago, kerry davies said:

Mac has it right but long answer short, if you don't want to share it, buy it yourself.

Disposables like foam earplugs the employer generally supplies but only in rare cases like Gridgirl's orchestra would custom moulds be supplied. Gloves fall between the stools as heavy duty battery acid gloves would be an RA item supplied and I used to supply riggers gloves but most people don't like sharing sweat so buy their own manual handling kit.

Basically though if you join a production company on PAYE and they will supply what they consider necessary. Join as self-employed, you are the employer, you do the providing. 

Any company that expects you to share gloves with fellow employees isn't worth working for (I've certainly never heard of it), and boots? Has such a thing ever even existed? I've never heard of a company making employees share safety boots.

@J Pearce has the correct answer - the kit you're given will be dependent upon the risk assessment and what PPE it deems necessary. If the RA says you need protective boots, the company must (legally) provide these for you. If the RA says you need a helmet, they must provide that. If the RA does not stipulate protective gloves then the company are not obliged to give you gloves. 

Some people choose to buy their own for comfort, but you should not need to buy your own for hygiene. I have never heard of an employer asking employees to share PPE items in this way. Harnesses, maybe. They're costly. But staple items like helmet / gloves / boots / hivis are always issued personally.

The big advantage of using company equipment is that if it becomes damaged in use, they're obliged to replace it. The downside is that they're not obliged to provide you with anything more than the most basic option - if they want to give you £20 Screwfix safety boots then they're fulfilling their obligation, but you will probably not want to be on your feet in those for 10 hours a day 5 days a week... but if you want some nice Haix ones you will need to pick up the tab yourself - both on the first pair and any subsequent replacements, even if yours are damaged on company time. 

The other thing to watch out for when buying your own is making sure that what you buy is of at least the minimum specification required. For example if the company issued you a simple construction-type safety helmet, conforming to EN 397; and you decided to replace it with your own purchase of a Petzl climbing helmet - but you chose a sport model conforming to EN 12492... and you later had an accident in which you suffered a head or neck injury, you could find yourself in hot water. The company might argue that you failed to fulfil your obligations as an employee under the Health and Safety at Work Act by failing to follow the safety measures they put in place since you chose to wear a sport helmet instead of the company-issued PPE.

The best way to mitigate this sort of thing in my experience is to be upfront with the company about what PPE you'd like. (Sadly this only comes with experience). Express your preference of particular items, and ask if they'll cover the cost, or at least meet some of the cost with you meeting the rest. This way you get the best of both worlds - it's still company-provided PPE but it's to your choosing. 

Edited June 23, 2022 by dje

[Bryson]

I have seen shared boots, actually, but only in the context of the “visitors boots” on a construction site, which are to be avoided at all costs.

[J Pearce]

A few places I've worked have had shared boots available for casuals, which fulfilled an obligation but no-one ever used them.

[dje]

3 hours ago, Bryson said:

I have seen shared boots, actually, but only in the context of the “visitors boots” on a construction site, which are to be avoided at all costs.

I think that's not unreasonable. Agreed - to be avoided. But they're not being bought for employee use, only for the convenience of visitors.

2 hours ago, J Pearce said:

A few places I've worked have had shared boots available for casuals, which fulfilled an obligation but no-one ever used them.

I think that's a pretty back-handed way of saying buy your own 😂 but it's still hideously stingey. Casuals are usually zero hour employees rather than freelancers and thus should be afforded the same provisions as the full timers.

[J Pearce]

My opinions on this industry's use of casual labour would probably fall foul of the no politics rule, so I shall stop there.

[gareth]

Th short answer to this question is "all of it". As a contracted employee, you should be supplied with any and all PPE deemed necessary for the work you're asked to do.

[gareth]

On 6/23/2022 at 2:17 PM, Northernbird00 said:

I understand that but that is quite vague. I am after specifics for what the basic package should be as a minimum - steel toe caps? hi vis? show blacks? etc 

Show blacks aren't PPE. You may be asked to provide your own, and may be given an allowance towards paying for them. Just remember that if you're provided with uniform at work (which is what show blacks are) and required to launder it at home, you can claim a small tax allowance for that. There's no 'minimum' PPE - every task you're required to undertake as an employee should be subject to a risk assessment and method statement, and within that should be an assessment of the PPE required for that task, which is what should then be provided for you. It's not really vague at all - quite the opposite, in fact, the H&S documentation should be quite specific.

Edited June 29, 2022 by gareth

[paulears]

The theatre emplpyees - as in those paid PAYE for at least three venues I am familiar with who take people on for between 6 and 12 weeks have never supplied their people with PPE of any kind. Boots, most already have. Headwear and hi viz from a heap at two places, the other have no safety equipment of any kind. Sometimes hired in kit will come with specific safety items such as gloves or perhaps eye protection. One venue would not even know they should supply it. I used to get cross, now, the self-employed contractors supply their own, and the PAYE folk who know, do the same. A few should know, as college should have covered it, but don't seem aware at all. Bar staff have hearing protection - theatre steal those. I'm afraid that now at my age, I worry about those I am responsible for. The rest have to manage.

[Brian]

On 6/23/2022 at 3:40 PM, kerry davies said:

Basically though if you join a production company on PAYE and they will supply what they consider necessary. Join as self-employed, you are the employer, you do the providing. 

Maybe, although the latest changes to the PPE Regs 1992 have brought 'limb (b)' workers under the regs. So unless you are genuinely self-employed, PPE should be provided.

And we all know what a rabbit hole self-employment status is.