CORONAVIRUS - PPE - 18.05.2020

Can’t get the right PPE?

In an open letter to the food industry, the HSE has revealed a degree of flexibility in its attitude towards those who are unable to obtain their usual personal protective equipment (PPE). What has it said?

Shortages

Whilst supply chain issues are likely to be relatively short lived, there’s no doubt that many businesses are struggling to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This is particularly the case where industry users are in competition with the healthcare sector for disposable gloves, respirators, visors and disposable coveralls.

As a result, the HSE has written to the food industry. This is because there’s a risk of inhaling flour dust, especially in bakeries, and this is often controlled with high-quality disposable respirators. Breathing in the dust can lead to occupational asthma, effectively causing permanent disablement. Therefore it’s important that staff continue to be effectively protected.

What does the HSE want?

The HSE has issued temporary guidance which gives some leeway (see The next step ). Firstly it points out that using PPE is a last resort anyway and that many factories can achieve a good level of dust control through working practices which minimise dust creation and by using local extraction systems to remove dust from the atmosphere before it causes harm.

Tip 1. Prioritise your efforts to remove hazards by means other than PPE. You should be doing this anyway to comply with the law, but the poor availability of PPE makes this even more important than usual.

Tip 2. Strategies to reduce dust include: using a scoop to dispense powders, rather than pouring; loading the substance into machines smoothly; starting up mixing machines at a slow speed; avoiding compressed air lines for cleaning up (instead use a high-efficiency vacuum cleaner or wet mop).

FFP3 masks

The HSE’s published guidance on control of flour dust requires that where disposable dust masks are necessary, they should be rated FFP3. Unfortunately, respirators meeting these standards are also being used in the fight against coronavirus so are currently hard to come by.

Note. FFP stands for “filtering face piece” and there are three degrees of protection, with FFP1 being the lowest and FFP3 the highest.

Tip 1. If you use FFP3 face masks but cannot buy them at present, you might need to downgrade to an FFP2 which gives approximately half as much protection. However, the HSE is cautioning that you’ll need to revisit your risk assessments and risk control measures to ensure that the work is still safe to do.

Tip 2. Do what you can to conserve stocks of PPE, e.g. issue FFP3 masks more cautiously so they are left for those who most need them. Consider if there are lower risk tasks for which an FFP2 mask might be good enough.

Warning. The HSE says that it’s not offering immunity from prosecution for those unable to follow industry PPE rules, but that it will take a proportionate and pragmatic approach. Essentially it’s looking for employers to do their best in the circumstances rather than using the situation as an excuse to drop their standards.

For a link to the HSE’s statement, visit http://tipsandadvice-healthandsafety.co.uk/download (HS 18.18.02).

Inspectors will take a pragmatic approach when dealing with those struggling to obtain PPE due to stock shortages. Consider ways to conserve supplies so that those who really need it have the correct equipment available at the right time.

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