Kelsey Hargreaves, Technical Manager at BICSc, reports.
Whenever I go training, I like to ensure that I have what I call my “assurance aid” with me. In the UK, it’s a lovely trolley that fits in the back of my car filled with PPE, cloths, SOPs, Risk Assessments and if anyone knows the famous BICSc employee, Ronnie (the plastic rat that we use to dynamic risk assess). He always comes along for the journey too. When I go abroad, I usually take the same sort of stuff, an extra bit of assurance that training can go ahead compliantly.
So, as I prepared for a recent international trip where I would be demonstrating some skills, it was no different, but I realised that some “PPE assurance aids” were running a little dry. Now, normally I would get some from BICSc HQ or Amazon Prime, but on a Sunday afternoon, the day before I was due to go, that wasn’t going to happen! I called round friends within the industry, looked on trade websites and generally prayed that all would be okay. Until I asked myself: “Surely I could get what I need in a supermarket?”.
A lot of SDS for products we use in our homes state we should wear PPE, they state that some products are harmful, corrosive, or irritants and recommend PPE, so surely supermarkets that sell this should offer the same thing?
The answer is a resounding ‘no’.
In some cases, I could get vinyl gloves or rubber gloves, but the holy grail of a nitrile glove was nowhere to be found (I tried 7 different named supermarkets). I don’t think I even need to tell you what happened when I tried to find some sort of safety eyewear or disposable apron, shocker, not there! In turn, aside from my internal panic and later extreme gratitude for B&Q and Tool Station, led me to quite the soap box moment mid supermarket aisle.
“Why on earth isn’t this stuff available? Why are we okay to sell these products and yet not sell the correct and sufficient PPE alongside them? Are the consumers subconsciously being kept ‘unsafe’ by not having this available?”
Now, if anyone knows me, they know that a 1-minute soap box opportunity normally turns into 5 minutes, which is when I very quickly started thinking about this in our commercial market.
What about our operatives?
I can tell you from first-hand experience that many operatives do not have access to the PPE they need. Whether this stems from a lack of budget, lack of knowledge or lack of care, there are operatives within this country who do not know nor have access to the tools they need to keep themselves safe. Even further into chemical usage, where sites utilise neat chemicals, operatives are often not given the tools they need to dilute the chemicals safely or correctly. Dare I push this even further and ask what assurance systems we have in place on-site to ensure that operatives are not bringing in their own chemicals? Very often, we walk on sites and see (or smell!) chemicals that are not on the approved list of chemicals to be used, what checks and what policy do you have, are your staff aware that they cannot do that?
So, some top tips:
- Check the safety data sheets of the chemicals you are using and ask yourself whether you have the PPE accessible for your operatives using these chemicals.
- Ensure you have accessible and compliant COSHH assessments for all chemicals used on-site.
- Ensure you have the correct, clean and undamaged measuring apparatus for chemical dilution where appropriate.
- Train your staff in understanding documentation, COSHH, PPE and dilution of chemicals.
- Set assurance systems in place to ensure that all of the above are being followed.
If in doubt, ask!
How safe are your operatives?
And if you’re reading all that wondering why PPE is so important, check out our free PPE course – it’s got a great range of content crammed into it. It answers a lot of the common PPE questions floating around.
https://training.bics.org.uk/courses/understanding-ppe
About the contributor
Kelsey Hargreaves
Technical Manager
BICSc