Personal Protective Equipment - where to buy?

Half_way

In my current job, working on various items of engineering machinery such as lathes/drills/milling machines etc and setting up/maintenance/opperating etc etc, There is a need for some basic safety equipment, such as overalls, safety boots, eye protection and so on.
The kit that i curretly own is getting a little bit tatty, and some of it wont survive many more washes, and my safety boots are almost worn out, ( we have to wash our own overalls at home as theres no works laundry service) so it needs to be replaced.

As my current employer doesnt supply the basic PPE, we have to buy our own kit, from our own money.
does anyone know of any reasonably priced places to buy comfortable boots/overalls etc from ( ie online) thanks.

Red_Cat

Sometimes Screwfix or Toolstation have good prices on safety gear.
Otherwise, occasionally Lidl and Aldi have stuff too, thought I don't know about the quality from there.

It's a bit rum that your firm don't contribute anything towards your gear.

withabix

Half_way wrote: »

As my current employer doesnt supply the basic PPE, we have to buy our own kit, from our own money.
does anyone know of any reasonably priced places to buy comfortable boots/overalls etc from ( ie online) thanks.

That is ILLEGAL if you are an employee.

Give your local HSE office a call and ask them to 'have a word' with your employer.

Right click on the link below and download the PDF:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg174.pdf

ohreally

This responsibility falls to your employer. They have a duty placed on them and they can't charge the employee.

paddedjohn

As already stated above a couple of times, its up to your employer to provide ppe by law. If they think different then you should refer them to the HSE who will put them right in a heartbeat.

dickydonkin

As above - your employer is legally obliged to provide your PPE and the employee should not have to pay for personal protective equipment.

This comes specifically under the PPE regulations and under section 9 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the latter piece of legislation just doesn't apply to PPE. (Apologies for quoting regs).

The law requires that no employee should be charged for anything that is required to fulfil the 'employers statutory requirements'.

Statutory requirements may also include training and instruction which may also be covered therefore the employee should not be charged for those either.

So in effect, PPE would be covered by this legislation and being 'charged' will also apply to deposits and other devisive ways that employers and in particular agencies try to charge 'employees' for PPE.

OP- don't make demands to your employer, just mention that your gear is the worse for wear, mention his legal requirements and make sure he doesn't supply the cheapest and nastiest workwear.

When working with lathes in particular, make sure your overalls fit well - particularly around the arms and wrists and if your boots are in poor condition or badly fitting, this can also result in you tripping and falling into the equipment.

Hopefully your employer can be persuaded.

Half_way

Thanks for the advice, there are only five of its on the shop floor, the last time someone asked for the boss went loopy and accused them of having an attitude problem,, with the possibility I of this person not having any work

Googlewhacker

Whether he goes loopy or not its still a legal right of yours and if he ain't willing to oblige then why are you still working their?

19lottie82

Hi OP - If you don't want to hassle your employer, then try arco.co.uk - they are quite reasonable

moose1982

19lottie82 wrote: »

Hi OP - If you don't want to hassle your employer, then try arco.co.uk - they are quite reasonable

I used to buy all my previous employers PPE from Arco, they are good. It's a recommendation from me

dickydonkin

Half_way wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, there are only five of its on the shop floor, the last time someone asked for the boss went loopy and accused them of having an attitude problem,, with the possibility I of this person not having any work

Seems the only person here with the attitude problem is the employer!

What would worry me is if the employer is taking issues with providing personal protective equipment, I have a suspicion that his other obligations to ensure the health and safety of his workers will also be lacking.

I don't normally condone it unless all other avenues have been exhausted, but it looks like you may have to contact the HSE in an effort to 'remind' your employer that he is not excluded from having to conform to the laws of the land.