Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE as it’s more commonly known, can be vital in the workplace to protect employees from risks that cannot be avoided. Building sites normally require staff to wear hard hats and gloves, and noisy working environments will normally mean staff need ear defenders. Gloves may also be needed when handling hot or dangerous substances too.
So what happens if you are injured due to a lack of, or inadequate / defective, PPE in the workplace? Can you make a No Win, No Fee claim for personal injury compensation?
Your Rights
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations set out the duties your employer has to you as their employee when it comes to using PPE in the workplace. Generally speaking, the regulations set out the following general requirements:
- PPE is provided and paid for by your employer
- PPE is risk assessed when it comes to its suitability by your employer
- PPE must be inspected and maintained by your employer
- Policies must be in place to enforce the use of PPE, and training should be provided
- PPE must not cause a further danger to an employee or restrict their ability to work – whether safely, or at all
So right away, any failure to provide PPE is a major breach of the regulations. You shouldn’t be expected to provide and maintain your own PPE – it’s your employer’s job to do this. PPE must be risk assessed to make sure it’s genuinely protecting you as well.
For example: are the gloves you’re given protecting you enough from burns? Do coveralls protect every part of your body, or is there any bits exposed?
Its one thing providing it, but it’s another thing making sure it works! Policies need to be in place to enforce and supervise the use of PPE to make sure it’s being used, and being used correctly. Training should be provided so staff know how to make the most of their PPE and use it safely. They should be knowledgeable about the dangers the PPE is protecting them from as well.
So if you feel your employer has failed you when it comes to PPE in the workplace you may have a valid claim for work injury compensation.
What to do!
Call us on 0800 634 75 75 for a free and friendly confidential chat about whether you have a claim, and your options for compensation. Our advice is free, and we can normally tell you in minutes whether you have a valid workplace claim or not.
If we think you have a good case, we can offer you a No Win, No Fee guarantee that means you are not charged by us if the claim doesn’t win. We can do this because we’re happy to take the risk of not getting paid if it loses if we think we have a decent shot at winning the claim.
You don’t pay any upfront fees, and we can also offer 100% compensation for work accident claims as well. Most lawyers will take 25% due to recent legal changes, but we don’t.
