Personal Protective Equipment

PPE is defined as “Personal protective equipment”  which would include ‘all equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects him against one or more risks to his health or safety’ e g safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, high-visibility clothing and safety footwear.

The main requirement of the PPE at Work Regulations is that personal protective equipment is to be supplied and used at work wherever there are risks to health and safety that cannot be adequately controlled in other ways.

Here are some potential hazards and ways to protect yourself against possible harm.

The hazards and types of PPE:

Eyes

Hazards: chemical or metal splash, dust, projectiles, gas and vapour, radiation.
Options: safety spectacles, goggles, face shields, visitors.
Our Solution: Safety Glasses, shields and visors

Head

Hazards: impact from falling or flying objects, risk of head bumping, hair entanglement.
Options: a range of helmets and bump caps.
Our Solution: Safety Helmets, headsets and chinstraps

Breathing

Hazards: dust, vapour, gas, oxygen-deficient atmospheres.
Options: disposable filtering face piece or respirator, half- or full-face respirators, air-fed helmets, breathing apparatus.
Our solution: Facemasks and respirators

Protecting the body

Hazards: temperature extremes, adverse weather, chemical or metal splash, spray from pressure leaks or spray guns, impact or penetration, contaminated dust, excessive wear or entanglement of own clothing.
Options: conventional or disposable overalls, boiler suits, specialist protective clothing, eg chain-mail aprons, high-visibility clothing.
Our solutions: Flame retardant overalls, shirts, vests, pants, socks, sweat shirts and jackets

Hands and arms

Hazards: abrasion, temperature extremes, cuts and punctures, impact, chemicals, electric shock, skin infection, disease or contamination.
Options: gloves, gauntlets, mitts, wrist cuffs, armlets.
Our Solution:  WeldersGauntlet, rigger gloves, high vis, gripper gloves, Nitrile gloves, foam gloves,chemical gloves and safety gloves

Feet and legs

Hazards: wet, electrostatic build-up, slipping, cuts and punctures, falling objects, metal and chemical splash, abrasion.
Options: safety boots and shoes with protective toe caps and penetration-resistant mid-sole, gaiters, leggings, spats.
Our solutions:  Safety boot, shoes, trainers toe caps and wellingtons

Fantastic Bluetooth Safety Glasses

Safety glasses embody one of those contradictions in the workplace. You’re in trouble if you don’t wear them because of the safety issues, and you’re in trouble if you do wear them because they are relatively unattractive. With Venitex BBCOM Bluetooth Safety Glasses, you’ve found something unique in the world – a pair of safety glasses that effectively protect your eyes while being comfortable and attractive as well. In fact, with Bluetooth technology you may find so many uses for Venitex safety glasses that you will never want to take them off.

Venitex safety glasses fit snug to your head and feel like they’ll never let go, an important quality when you’re hands are full of material, wood chips and shrapnel. Flying debris could seriously hurt your eyes, considering how vulnerable eyes are in the workplace. You don’t have to worry about Venitex’s safety glasses coming off in the workplace, ever. Considering the handsome wrap-around design and electric blue colouring, you may not take they off anyway.The one thing you must make note of when looking at the Venitex BBCOM Bluetooth is the fact that they are Bluetooth enabled. That means you can communicate with others, even though the noise around you is very loud. Any you can download music files with the A2DP profile, making the work place a bearable place noise-wise. Gel earpieces attached to discrete wires from the safety glasses boughs make for effective transmission without putting your safety in jeopardy. They function both as earplugs and earphones.When it comes to the colour of the glasses, there are three lens tints to choose from: Clear for ordinary work conditions, smoke tint for sun glare and artificial light glare, and yellow for low lit work areas. The technology requires lithium battery power and two batteries come with the purchase price. The glasses include a recharging cord. A discrete LED also communicated the charging status of the glasses. An extra pair of silica gel is included.With Venitex BBCOM Bluetooth safety glasses from Granite Workwear you will enjoy comfort, style and functionality. The amazing Bluetooth technology makes the glasses unique, something you will realize when you use the technology. Bluetooth technology not only makes the workplace safer by increasing communication, but it also makes the workplace pleasant for the wearer. Venitex BBCOM Bluetooth has the answer to all your safety glasses needs today and in the future.

Our price for one pair of Venitex BBCOM Bluetooth safety glasses is £234 including VAT (£195 without).

Eye Protection a Must

Thousands of eye injuries occur every year in the UK ranging from minor, which may result in a few days off work, to major, resulting in the loss of an eye.
The use of proper eyewear, guards against flying particles, chemicals, burns and with the cost of compensation for the loss of sight in one eye averaging £100,000 and the loss of working days in lesser cases there is an obvious cost if the right equipment is not used.

However it is not just about cost; the welfare of workers should be uppermost in employers’ minds. In the case of individuals who are performing DIY or sports they should be thinking about the impact on their and their family’s lives of damaging their eyes.The Health and Safety Executive make it clear that companies have a legal duty of care to train and protect their employees and visitors against occupational risk. It is their responsibility to ensure that the proper PPE eyewear is used at all times. It used to be that only people actually involved in the use of tools or operating machinery had to wear eye protection, now anybody passing through a work area or construction site has to be protected.
Often the employees do not like to wear PPE items and in particular eyewear, as they find it restricting and uncomfortable but suppliers are conscious of this and are developing new products that are comfortable and fit properly so that maximum protection is afforded.

Particularly in the case of eyewear, fit is essential and the cost and logistics of stocking many different sizes at a company has now been addressed by the production of adjustable eyewear that fits a number of sizes and shapes of face. The eyewear is also much lighter and gives distortion free vision. There have also been big advances in non-mist and scratch resistance and many offer various levels of UV protection along with polarisation to cut glare particularly when working near water. In the past one of the reasons that people did not like to wear safety eyewear was that it looked unfashionable, this has now changed with the design of trendy and sporty looking products often following high-street fashion trends.

At Granite Workwear you will find a comprehensive range of eye protection items. Even the Peltor Maxim Air Seal which can double as goggles or the more traditional glasses but with the eye completely sealed. These come with three interchangeable ballistic lenses, smoke for high light levels, yellow for low light levels and clear.

We are finding that they are being used by a very diverse range of customers from people who are susceptible to eye infections to drivers of vintage vehicles. A bee in your eye at 70mph must be a very alarming experience!