Should my employees use personal protective equipment?
Personal protective equipment (PPE) includes helmets, gloves, eye protection, and respiratory protective equipment such as face masks.
The government guidelines state that businesses should NOT encourage the use of PPE to protect against COVID-19 “outside clinical settings, or when responding to a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19”.
And PPE certainly shouldn’t be used in lieu of social distancing measures, or as a replacement for other mitigating actions to manage risk. This is because PPE has a limited role in providing additional protection from COVID-19.
However, if your risk assessment shows that PPE is required, you must provide it to your employees free of charge.
Should my employees wear face masks?
According to government advice, evidence for the benefits of face masks is weak. There is no legal requirement to wear them.
Again, face masks should not be used as a replacement for other methods of managing risk.
Any employee who does wear a face mask should be encouraged to follow correct procedure. This means:
- Washing their hands for 20 seconds before putting their face mask on and after removing it
- Avoiding touching their face or face covering to prevent contamination of the mask
- Changing the face mask if it becomes damp
- Washing it if it’s reusable, or disposing of it if not
via https://www.AiUpNow.com/ by Henry Williams, Khareem Sudlow
