Advice for employers

Legal requirements

Regulations

The Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSWR) require you to ensure that you have a safe working environment. They set out the basic requirements for you to follow. These are the principal health and safety regulations from which all others follow.

The law governing the use of RPE is contained in:

• The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH);
• The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAW);
• The Control of Lead at Work Regulations (CLAW);
• The Ionising Radiations Regulations (IRR);
• The Confined Spaces Regulations (CSR).

These regulations are supported by Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs). The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) approve these. ACOPs have a special status in law. If you are prosecuted for a breach of health and safety law, and it is proved that you did not follow the relevant provisions of the code, you will need to show that you have complied with the law in some other way or a court will find you at fault.

This guide on RPE supports the ACOPs to the regulations. If you use other PPE (eg helmet, eye protection) in addition to RPE then you will also have to work according to the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations.

Consulting employees and safety representatives:

When implementing health and safety measures, which includes the selection and use of RPE, you must consult either:

• safety representatives appointed by recognised trade unions; or
• employees, either directly or indirectly, through elected representatives.

Guidance on this matter can be found in the free HSE leaflet Consulting employees on health and safety: A guide to the law (PDF) ^[1].

Specific requirements for RPE use

The law says that RPE used at work must:

• be adequate and provide the wearer with effective protection;
• be suitable for the intended use;
• be 'CE'-marked;
• be selected, used and maintained by properly trained people;
• be correctly maintained, examined and tested;
• be correctly stored.

In addition, you will need to keep records of selection, maintenance and testing.

Adequate

RPE is considered adequate if it can provide a level of protection required to reduce the exposure to comply with the law.

Suitable

RPE is considered suitable if it is adequate and is matched to the wearer, the task and the working environment, such that the wearer can work with minimum impediment and without additional risks due to the protective equipment.

CE marking

If you use RPE for protection against hazardous substances then you will have to use CE-marked equipment. This requirement is modified for RPE manufactured before 1 July 1995. If your RPE is more than nine years old consult the RPE manufacturer.

The CE mark on RPE tells you that the equipment has met the minimum requirements laid down in the law for its design and manufacture. This marking appears as the letters 'CE' and a four-digit code that identifies the body responsible for checking manufacturing quality. CE marking does not indicate that it is automatically suitable for your use in your workplace. It is your responsibility to select the correct RPE.

Accidents involving RPE

You should report accidents involving RPE and diseases resulting from exposure to hazardous substances to HSE via the Incident Contact Centre^[2]. You should consult the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) for specific details.

Why RPE is a last resort

Under the law, PPE, including RPE, is the last line of protection. The reasons for this include:

• RPE can only protect the wearer. Control measures at source protect all those in the area.
• If RPE is used incorrectly, or is badly maintained, the wearer is unlikely to receive adequate protection.
• RPE is uncomfortable to wear and is an intrusion into normal activities.
• RPE may interfere with work.

However, there may be circumstances where you may consider it prudent to issue PPE including RPE, not because other control measures are inadequate on their own, but to provide additional protection if any of the control measures fail to operate. In this type of situation, it is prudent to seek specialist support (eg an occupational hygienist).

Selecting respiratory protective equipment

You should only use PPE, including RPE, after all other reasonably practicable control measures have been taken. Before deciding to select RPE, you should ensure that the specific requirements for using RPE are satisfied. Your decision to use PPE, including RPE, should be justified in a risk assessment. If you employ five or more employees the risk assessment should be recorded.

RPE selector tool

For RPE to be effective over the short and long term it must be integrated into normal workplace activities. You must ensure that control measures including RPE are properly used and are not made less effective by bad work practices or by improper use.

Your employees must use the control measures, including RPE, in the way they are intended to be used and as trained and instructed by you. It is often best to give a choice of several correctly specified types of RPE to wearers so they can choose the one they like.

Some common misuses of RPE:

There have been serious accidents and fatalities due to incorrect selection or misuses of RPE. The examples and case studies in this section give information and warning. Incorrect selection and misuse invalidate the suitability of RPE and constitute a failure to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law. If they find any incorrect selection or misuse of RPE, including the examples given below, they will consider enforcement action.

Filters for respirators

There are three main types of filters:

• particle filters;
• gas/vapour filters;
• combined filters (particles and gases and vapours).

Particle filters

These trap and hold particles (dust, mist, fume, smoke, micro-organisms) from the air flowing through them. Large particles are easier to trap than small ones. These filters can be used against both solid particles and liquid mists and droplets. However, particle filters do not trap gases or vapours including organic liquid mists and sprays, or give any protection against oxygen-deficient atmospheres. Some manufacturers may recommend the use of pre-filters (coarse filters) to protect the main filters. Particle filters will be marked with a 'P' sign and filtration efficiency number, 1, 2 or 3. If the filter is also usable with fan-assisted respirators then they will also carry the sign 'TH' or 'TM' and the filtration efficiency number (1, 2 or 3). If colour coding is used, the label will be WHITE.

When should you change particle filters?

The following is recommended:

If you use an EN 149, EN 405 or EN 1827 device, then at least daily, unless the manufacturer can guarantee longer use.

If you use one or more filters on EN 140 or EN 136 face masks, change them daily. If you want to use the filters for longer, seek the manufacturer's advice.

For TH and TM type filters for fan-assisted respirators, change as instructed by the manufacturer.

For replaceable filters, it would be good practice to mark the filter visibly with the date it was taken out of the packaging and fitted to the RPE; an in-house replacement date can be added to this marking.

The following additional information is provided to help you make decisions:

• Do not use if the shelf life expiry date on the filters has passed.
• Change when filters are damaged or visibly contaminated.

Change when they become harder to breathe through. This can happen quickly if the wearer is exposed to very high dust concentrations.

P1: low efficiency; use with PF4 respirators. Do not use against fume unless the manufacturer can guarantee protection.

P2: medium efficiency; use with PF10 respirators. Do not use against fume unless the manufacturer can guarantee protection.

P3: high efficiency; use with PF20 or PF40 respirators.

Gas/vapour filters

These filters are designed to remove gases or vapours as specified by the manufacturer. They do not protect against particles, or oxygen-deficient atmospheres.

They don't last forever - these filters have a limited capacity for removing gases/vapours, so after a time, the gas or vapour will pass straight through (an event known as breakthrough) to the RPE wearer's respiratory system.

Gas/vapour filters are usually divided according to the type of substance they can be used against, and the capacity of the filter. The filter or the mask it is built into will be marked with a letter (the type) and usually a number to indicate capacity, and a standard colour coding (eg A2 - brown). If the filter is also usable with powered respirators then they will also be marked 'TH' or 'TM'.

The classification of gas and vapour filters is based on how much of the specified contaminant they can hold in a laboratory test at set conditions.

• Class 1: low capacity.
• Class 2: medium capacity.
• Class 3: high capacity.

When to change gas/vapour filters

Filter life is very difficult to predict because it depends on a large number of factors. Based on practical tests, HSE recommends:

Filter capacity 1: Change at least every two days or as instructed by the manufacturer. But if the filter is used for protection against a carcinogen or a respiratory sensitiser or a substance carrying the risk phrase R40 or R42, change everyday or as instructed by the manufacturer.

Filter capacity 2: Change at least once a week or as instructed by the manufacturer.

TM/TH type filters: Change as instructed by the manufacturer.