PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT – PPE

What is PPE? 

PPE is the acronym for personal protective equipment. Employers have an obligation under the labor code to protect workers and this is partly done through PPE. This equipment is a device or means that must be worn or held by a person in order to protect him/her against one or more threats that represent a risk to the employee's safety and health. Generally, a PPE designates professional clothing (coveralls, masks, gloves, glasses, safety shoes, helmets...) but depending on the company's activity, there may be specific protections such as gas detectors, knee pads...

It is the employer's duty to provide PPE in line with its activity but also to provide them in sufficient quantities and adapted to the morphology of these employees. It is also under the obligation to maintain this equipment in good condition and to replace or repair any defective equipment. 

What is the difference between PPE and CPE?  

It is important to make the difference between an EPC and a PPE. A PPE is individual equipment, i.e. it only protects one individual and often a PPE belongs to one employee only, for example work gowns are not suitable. However, an CPE is collective protective equipment. This includes equipment that is intended only to protect anyone in the vicinity of the hazard. For example, aspirations of hazardous substances are CPEs.