The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board has launched two short online courses to help workers and employers understand the risks of ill-fitting personal protective equipment.
The PPE: Right Fit. Real Protection modules each take around ten minutes to complete and are initially available only to ECITB in-scope employers.
The training is delivered through ECITB World, part of the board’s Learning Experience Platform (LXP). It uses engineering construction scenarios to explain how PPE should suit both the work being carried out and the person wearing it.
One module, Wearing and using PPE, is aimed at employees, technicians and operational supervisors. It covers fit, compatibility between items of equipment, pre-use checks and recognising when PPE is no longer suitable.
The second, Providing and managing PPE, is for those responsible for selecting, buying, issuing or overseeing equipment. Its audience includes managers, supervisors, procurement and stores teams, HR staff and administrators.
That module focuses on the decisions and systems needed to select suitable PPE, review its use and make improvements over time.
Both courses are awareness modules rather than training in technical PPE competence.
The ECITB worked with the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), which reviewed the initial proposal and contributed industry insights through its Safety Forum.
The training addresses the need for different sizes, designs or adjustments to give workers suitable protection. The ECITB says differences in body shape, medical needs and other individual requirements need to be recognised when equipment is selected.
Mat Parker, the ECITB’s head of careers and inclusion, said: “PPE is often the final barrier between a worker and serious injury or ill health.”
The board hopes to extend the PPE training to the wider industry in future, but has not announced a date.
Access to the LXP is free for ECITB in-scope employers. Employers wishing to join are directed to their ECITB Relationship Manager.
