What is a PPE solution ?

A personal protective equipment must be a solution for the end user.

What is a solution?

We are talking about responsability : the hazards have been identified, the risks have been assessed, prevention and collective protection measures have been taken to reduce or eliminate the risks, and sometimes, a personal equipment will have to be used to protect the worker.
In this situation, the equipment must be adapted to the level of risk (we will talk about the level of performance of the product) in order to be performant enough in case of an occupational accident, or to prevent any occupational disease. The responsability of the employer is to select and provide the worker with the proper protection. Some distributors or manufacturers can help the end users to do so, but the responsability of this choice will be incumbent on the employer. The main difficulty here is to be able to read the information : the level of performance on a specific standard. That will be part of next presentation.

So we can say that the performance of the product is one part of the solution. But it is not the only criteria specifically if you want to protect the worker and keep efficiency and productivity at the workplace.

There is no specific international standard about health and safety at work. However, reference tables have been elaborated in order to implement qualitative measures by integrating prevention and safety steps, and involving all levels of management in the company (for instance : ILO-OSH 2001at international level ; OHSAS at european level ; and national reference tables such as BS8800 in UK or MASE in France). An international satndard ISO 26000 about social responsability is in discussion at the moment.

It's important for the employer, or a safety manager, that measures of protection can be implemented at the workplace without decreasing productivity. Furthermore, the insurance that the personal protective equipment will be worn without permanently having to supervise it is also part of the solution.
Therefore, ergonomics, comfort, easy to wear and to use, design, are as important as performance in front of a risk. That's why finding a solution of personal protection is always a question of compromise.

That's why for the distributors as for the end users, it is essential to be able to read the information about the product, the standards as well as technical specifications. The technical specification becomes a sales argument when it answers the criteria listed before.