Inclusive PPE in the public sector

Katy Robinson, Senior Project Manager at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, looks at inequalities in relation to personal protective equipment and how her council is working to improve safety at work for everyone.

What’s the problem with PPE?

Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is utilised throughout the public sector. Whether it be for healthcare professionals in the NHS, body armour in our police force, or high visibility clothing for our refuse workers, the list goes on. 

But did you know that men and women require different fits of personal protective equipment?
A recent survey from the National Association of Women in Construction for Yorkshire found that 59.6% of employers were not providing women’s specific PPE, resulting in women having to wear PPE designed for men, and therefore having to suffer with ill-fitting PPE.

Ill-fitting PPE affects the user’s experience at work, whether it be through damaging their self-confidence, but can also impact their feeling of belonging within an organisation or industry. 

In addition to this, ill-fitting PPE also increases the risk of health and safety issues, such as slips, trips, and falls from ill-fitting safety boots or oversized high-visibility trousers. But it can also lead to more long-term health issues, with badly fitting safety boots leading to Morton’s Neuroma, Plantar Fasciitis and Tendinitis. 
In some instances, ill-fitting PPE can be deadly by compromising the user’s safety; ill-fitting harnesses can result in falls from height, ill-fitting body armour can lead to damage to internal organs, and ill-fitting face masks cause the user to be exposed to hazardous chemicals and bacteria.

What is The PPE Campaign?

The PPE campaign aims to address these widespread inequalities in PPE provision and design for minority groups, across the construction industry, and beyond.

As a woman working in construction in the public sector, I’ve also focused the campaign on how we can address these issues in the different areas of the public sector and local government too. 

Through my work at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, we have successfully implemented inclusive personal protective equipment into our procurement catalogue and encouraged it with our supply chain through our construction framework; YORhub.

By implementing inclusive PPE – PPE that takes into consideration the user’s individual requirements and Protected Characteristics – it not only makes us a more inclusive organisation, but improves the health, safety, and welfare of our employees too.

In the construction industry, we recently worked with the Considerate Constructors Scheme, a construction site accreditation, to mandate the requirement for women’s specific PPE across all of their registered activities. We continue to work with professional bodies and industry-leading organisations and associations to raise awareness of the issues with ill-fitting PPE, and encourage the provision of inclusive PPE.

Call to Action

One way in which I’ve worked with East Riding of Yorkshire Council to elevate the issue was through a motion on notice, proposed to all council members in February 2024.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council members voted unanimously in favour of the motion, meaning that the Council will write to the Government to urge them to mandate the requirement for inclusive PPE into the PPE at Work Regulations 1992. 

In March 2024, Sandwell Council also unanimously passed the inclusive PPE motion too.
These motions help support the campaign in a number of ways:
Urges the UK Government to address the widespread inequalities in PPE provision and design among minority groups.

Mandates the requirement for inclusive PPE within the Council, across all of their service areas.
Actively encourages local businesses and supply chains to mandate the requirement too.
I would urge all readers to consider working with their local council members to propose similar motions. It is a simple way to make a big difference to the health, safety and welfare of employees working in our sector.

Links:

https://www.nawicyorkshire.co.uk/campaigns/womens-ppe

https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/news/article/?entry=65d5c31e3a14a4cd2fb9d3db