Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Standards
Personal protective equipment standards are very important for today’s business life. Personal protective equipment standards are always in place, especially when it comes to taking safety precautions for those working in a job. Personal protective equipment standards have an important place in preventing or adequately reducing the risks that may occur in the workplace. These; head protective equipment, foot protective equipment, hand and arm protective equipment, eye and face protection equipment, body protective clothing, protection against height, hearing protection equipment and respiratory system protectors.
All these standards have different features in their own terms. Personal protective equipment is produced in accordance with TS EN standards. It must have the CE mark on it. The standards to be considered in the selection of personal protective equipment are included in the following headings, together with their details. However, first of all, an answer should be sought to the question of what is personal protective equipment, that is, what does PPE mean? Because the personal protective equipment should be known and standard choices should be made accordingly.
What is Personal Protective Equipment?
What is personal protective equipment? Or in abbreviated form, what is PPE? Personal protective equipment; It is defined as the occupational safety equipment that the employees use or carry in order to protect and secure themselves against the risks they may encounter during their work. In addition, a more detailed answer to the question of what are personal protective equipment is as follows: It eliminates or greatly reduces the harms of workers in occupational accidents. In short, they are materials that prevent risks and work to minimize accidents.
At the same time, the use of personal protective equipment according to risk control procedures is in the last place in hazard prevention steps. However, this does not mean that the use of PPE is unimportant. Occupational safety equipment becomes life-saving items when an accident occurs. For this reason, work and risks should be controlled very well in elections. So, in which situations are personal protective equipment used? The most important use case is the absolute protection of the organs of the body that are at risk of damage. In addition to these, PPE has many features.
Personal Protective Equipment Features
Personal protective equipment; means a device, tool or material manufactured for people to wear, carry or wear to protect themselves from one or more health and safety risks. Therefore, the use of PPE is a very important issue. In addition to these, there are also personal protective equipment features. The types of these features can be briefly summarized. In other words, personal protective equipment features should be as follows;
Must carry the CE mark,
There should be a user manual in Turkish,
It must meet the basic health and safety requirements defined in the PPE regulation.
In addition, PPE produced in accordance with the standards must meet the basic requirements. For this reason, PPE standards should be known with the features they offer and most standards should be included in the life of the person in accordance with the job opportunities. The answer to the question of what are the EN standards is quite simple. EN standards mean European standards, abbreviated as Europeane Norm. The EN was created to ensure compliance between standards in the European Union. The EN was created to ensure compliance between standards in the European Union.
Head Protective Equipment Standards
Head protective equipment standards are also called helmet standards. These standards have been evaluated separately. In addition, the type of standards can be specified step by step. So, the helmet standards are as follows;
TS EN 812: It is the name given to the heads used against impacts.
TS EN 397+A1: It is known as industrial helmet.
TS EN 50365: They are electrical investment caps for use in low voltage facilities.
TS EN 12492: These are protective caps produced for mountaineers to use.
In addition to these, personal protective equipment used in electrical work; electrician insulated gloves, electrician insulated shoes and electrician insulated hard hats, etc.
Hand Arm Protective Equipment Standards
TS EN 420+A1: Protective gloves, general specifications and test methods.
TS EN 388: Gloves produced to protect against mechanical risks.
TS EN 407: These are protective gloves produced against thermal risks.
TS EN ISO 374-1: It means conditions and performance requirements for chemical risks.
TS EN ISO 374-5: Microorganism risks and performance requirements
TS EN 421: These are protective gloves.
EN 14328: Gloves and sleeves protecting against cuts from electric knives.
Foot Protective Equipment Standards
TS EN ISO 20345: Safety footwear. These are shoes that have a protective feature against injuries in the event of an accident, have toe protectors, have been tested at an energy level of at least 200 Joule, and are produced against impacts.
TS EN ISO 20346: They are protective shoes.
TS EN ISO 20347: Work shoes.
TS EN 50321: They are electrically insulated shoes designed to be used in low voltage facilities.
Hand and Arm Protective Equipment Standards
TS EN 420+A1: Protective gloves, general specifications and test methods.
TS EN 388: Gloves produced to protect against mechanical risks.
TS EN 407: These are protective gloves produced against thermal risks.
TS EN ISO 374-1: It means conditions and performance requirements for chemical risks.
TS EN ISO 374-5: Microorganism risks and performance requirements
TS EN 421: These are protective gloves.
EN 14328: Gloves and sleeves protecting against cuts from electric knives.
Eye and Face Protective Equipment Standards
TS 5560 EN 166: Designed for personal eye protection.
TS EN 167: Personal eye protection and optical test methods
TS 5558 EN 168: Non-optical test methods.
TS EN 169: Filters for personal eye protection, welding and related techniques
TS EN 170: Ultraviolet filters, permeability properties and recommended uses
TS 8435 EN 171: Personal eye protection, infrared filters
TS 6860 EN 175: It is produced to protect the eyes and face during welding and similar processes.
TS EN 1731: Personal eye protection
Body Protective Clothing Standards
EN 340: Covers the general performance characteristics of protective clothing, namely ergonomics, size, wear, compatibility and harmlessness, and information that must be provided by the manufacturer with the protective clothing.
EN 343: This standard covers clothing materials that provide protection against precipitation, fog and moisture originating from the ground, and test methods for their application to joints.
EN 20471: It is a standard that covers the properties of protective clothing produced to visually indicate the presence of the user, to illuminate the vehicle headlights in daylight and to ensure that the user is noticed in dangerous situations in the dark.
EN 1149-5: It is a European standard with antistatic properties, produced for protective clothing.
EN ISO 11611: It is the type of welder’s clothing standard produced to be used in related processes, especially in welding works.
Standards for Protective Equipment Against Falls from Height
There are also certain standards for personal protective equipment that should be used in working at heights. These standards are as follows:
TS EN 354: It is a fastening apparatus against falling from a certain height.
TS EN 355: It is personal protective equipment against falling from a height.
TS EN 360: It is a retractable type fall arrester.
TS EN 361: Whole body belt systems.
TS EN 813: It is protective equipment produced to prevent falling from a height.
Hearing Protective Equipment Standards
TS EN 352-1: General rules, ear plugs
TS EN 352-2: Safety features and tests cover ear plugs.
TS EN 352-3: Protective ear plugs attached to an industrial safety helmet.
Respiratory System Protective Standards
TS EN 136: Full face masks, features and tests
TS EN 140: Half masks and quarter masks
TS EN 143: Dust filters, their properties and tests
TS EN 149: Particulate filter half masks, features, tests and markings
All of these standards can also be called personal safety materials. And as a result, personal protective equipment must be respected for safe working life.