Is PPE policing the best use of your safety team’s time?
When it comes to supporting events, ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone involved is of course our top priority. Under circumstances where works cannot be undertaken to remove risks, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) plays a crucial role in safeguarding workers and contractors from any potential hazards on-site at events. In this blog, we’ll delve into the importance of PPE, explore common on-site challenges and explain how a collaborative approach can improve the use of PPE.
Why PPE matters on-site at events
Worker safety: When tasks have been risk assessed, the final control measure is often the use of PPE. This PPE plays an important role in protecting people who make events come to life. Event build and breakdowns are usually busy environments with various activities taking place simultaneously, including heavy lifting, construction, and handling of equipment. PPE serves as a protective shield, guarding workers against potential hazards and reducing the impact of injuries or accidents.
Compliance with risk assessment: When tasks are subjected to a risk assessment, the aim is to identify hazards and implement control measures to either eliminate or minimise them. While PPE is not meant to be the initial control measure, it is recognised as one of the measures we can use for risk reduction. Employers have a legal obligation to safeguard their employees, and providing PPE, as pinpointed in the risk assessment, serves to demonstrate their dedication to worker safety.
Professional image and stakeholder confidence: For event companies and organisers, adhering to strict, though proportionate, safety standards and enforcing PPE usage demonstrates a commitment to safety. Clients and stakeholders are more likely to trust and have confidence in an event company that prioritises safety, making it an essential aspect of successful event delivery.
Common on-site PPE challenges
Event delivery can be incredibly fast paced and pressurised with leaders having to juggle multiple priorities at the same time. Trying to focus on PPE adherence on top of everything else can be tough which is why it’s often expected that the safety team will monitor the use of PPE on-site.
Sometimes, event workers may unintentionally forget to wear the necessary safety gear or they may not always see the value in wearing certain PPE items. There’s a lot of pressure on event workers so when it comes to PPE, we promote a proactive, not punitive, approach to reinforce the importance of wearing safety gear on-site but without creating unnecessary conflict.
Collaboration is the key to PPE implementation
Rather than adopting a heavy-handed or accusatory approach where the safety team effectively become the ‘PPE Police’, a much better strategy is to build a strong, collaborative approach between event leaders and the safety team. The safety team’s time and resources can often be in demand, so making the most of their budget should be a shared goal. By working together to take joint responsibility for the correct use of PPE on-site, event leaders and safety teams can collectively promote a safer environment for everyone.
Ensuring that it is clear to everyone on site what the expected PPE standards are prior to their arrival on site will help set the standards not only for PPE but also for safety on site as a whole.
We’ve also found that when event leaders consistently wear their own PPE on site, they are visibly demonstrating their commitment to safety. This sends a powerful message to the rest of the team as they are leading by example and promoting the proper use of PPE.
Ensuring safety, together
PPE is an important aspect of event safety, providing necessary protection to workers but the safety team’s role and expertise extends beyond just PPE enforcement. When event leaders and safety teams work together to reinforce the importance of PPE, the safety team’s resources and expertise are optimised enabling them to manage their time effectively across all aspects of the event, keeping everyone safe.
If you’d like to work with a safety team who are committed to simplifying health and safety and putting people first, then get in touch with our friendly team to discuss your next event.