6. Product safety and supply
The law on the supply of PPE
If you provide PPE, you should ensure it complies with the relevant product supply legislation. For example, Regulation (EU) 2016/425 (as incorporated into UK law) sets out the essential health and safety requirements that must be met before PPE products can be placed on the market in Great Britian (England, Scotland and Wales).
The Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018 are what HSE uses to enforce Regulation (EU) 2016/425 for PPE intended for workplace use in Great Britain.
More information for businesses, including importers and distributors, placing products on the market in Great Britain can be found in separate guidance from the Office for Product Safety and Standards (on GOV.UK).
There is also guidance on the regulations as they apply to equipment being sold in or into Northern Ireland (on GOV.UK).
Duties for employers
If you are an employer you must supply suitable PPE to your workers. This includes ensuring that it has an appropriate conformity assessment mark.
Most new PPE placed on the GB market must be UKCA or CE marked, supplied with a declaration of conformity and have instructions in English.
You can find more information in guidance from the Office for Product Safety and Standards (on GOV.UK).
Suppliers can advise you further.
You must ensure that any PPE is only used in line with the manufacturer’s instructions.
If you have concerns that PPE supplied for use at work does not comply with the product supply legislation, you can report a defective product.
Duties for those in the supply chain
If you are a manufacturer, authorised representative, importer or distributor of PPE, you have duties under Regulation (EU) 2016/425 (as incorporated into UK law). These duties are more fully explained in guidance from the Office for Product Safety and Standards (on GOV.UK) and will vary depending on where you are in the supply chain (definitions of the different roles are given below).
For example, manufacturers will have more duties, with tighter restrictions, than distributors. However, they all have an important role to play in ensuring that only compliant and safe PPE is placed on the market.
Manufacturers
A manufacturer is a person who manufactures PPE, or has PPE designed or manufactured, and markets that PPE under their name or trademark.
Authorised representatives
An authorised representative is a person authorised by the manufacturer to perform certain tasks on their behalf under a written mandate. Mandated authorised representatives for the GB market can be based in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, but cannot be based outside the UK.
Importers
An importer is a person or business based in the UK who places PPE on the GB market from a country outside the UK.
Distributors
A distributor is any person, other than the manufacturer or importer, who makes PPE available on the GB market.