Your Guide To Australian PPE Standards & Requirements

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Your Guide To Australian PPE Standards
Requirements

• WORKWEAR

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• Everything you need to know about Australian
  standards for PPE workwear.
• PPE has always been a necessity for people who
  have to work in high-risk work conditions. But
  with the emergence of COVID-19 and the ongoing
  pandemic, the importance of PPE has become
  highlighted by folds.
• PPE is Personal Protective Equipment, and it
  majorly includes respirators, goggles, masks, and
  gloves. PPE protects people working in extreme
  conditions from cuts, injuries, and abrasions
  that can occur due to a number of reasons, such
  as exposure to toxic agents, or falling from a
  height, etc. However, one important thing to note
  here is that PPE is not a substitute for
  proper workwear. It should not be used as a
  permanent safety measure. Instead, it should be
  employed only as a short-term protective measure
  until better and more effective control
  strategies are implemented in a workspace.
  Moreover, you can use PPE when working in
  situations that call for an emergency measure,
  such as emergency workspace clean-ups.
• In Australia, PPE has its limitations especially
  when it does not fall into the Australian
• Standards for workwear. Keep reading to find out
  what we are talking about

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PPE Selection Based on Australian Standards

• Once you have established that you need PPE for
  your work, the next step for you is to decide the
  correct type of PPE that you need. Match your PPE
  and its type to the level of risk you are exposed
  to when at work, and you can do that via a
  thorough hazard assessment. Plus, you also take
  to keep the sizing, durability, and comfort into
  consideration.
• Companies and businesses can use the Australian
  standards to guide themselves when ensuring the
  provisions and availability of PPE at the
  workplace. The PPE must meet the minimum
  performance as set by the standards which clarify
  the characteristics of PPE based on its type.
  Lets dive into the PPE requirements as set by
  the Australian Standards

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Masks and Respirators

• Masks and respirators are compulsory accessories
  that people who work in chemical facilities are
  required to wear. However, because of the ongoing
  pandemic, masks and respirators have become a
  necessity for everyone and people have become
  more vigilant in the PPE they use. Masks have
  been proven to decrease the risk of the wearer
  acquiring the disease. Companies need to keep PPE
  standards in mind when deciding the correct type
  of masks, respirators, and other devices.
• Besides, with so many types of products available
  in the market, it is natural and inevitable to
  get confused. But it is very important to buy the
  right product based on the intended purpose of
  the PPE depending on the workplace or the
  environment where you will have to use the PPE.
• Respirators like N100, N95, and N99 have special
  labelling because the Australian Government
  requires that the equipment conforms to the
  standards that have been set in action to
  regulate air-purifying particulate respirators.
  So, when a respirator has the label saying N95,
  it means that the manufacturer of the product has
  evidence that his product has attained the
  endorsement from the National Institution for
  Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

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• For cases, when a product does not get the
  approval, then performance test data stating that
  the N95 respirator conforms to the fundamental
  standards is needed, which include
• ISO 226092004
• This is the international standard made for
  medical face masks. This standard covers the PPE
  for infectious agents and the test method
  employed is either by horizontal projection or
  fixed volume of synthetic blood.
• AS/NZS 43812015
• This one is for face masks that are used
  in healthcare facilities. It pertains to
  disposable or single-use masks.

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• AS ISO 16900.32015
• This standard is followed for the use of
  respiratory protective devices. The assessment of
  products that get approved is done via a series
  of particle filter penetration tests.
• AS NZS 17162012 
• This one offers the guidelines for respiratory
  protective devices, especially those devices that
  are labelled with P3, P2, and P1 filtration
  classes. It also covers respirators that are not
  employed in the medical field.
• AS NZS 17152009 
• This standard provides instructions in using,
  maintaining, and choosing respiratory protective
  equipment.

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Reflective Clothing

• Reflective clothing or high-visibility (hi-vis)
  clothing has to fall under the legislative
  standards and requirements. Many people believe
  that any brightly coloured shirt or yellow
  coloured clothes ensure that you are safe from
  any type of harm. However, that is not the case,
  and it is, in fact, a lot more than that.
  Reflective or hi-vis clothes have to follow the
  given standards
• Also Read Hi-Vis Clothing its Benefits at Work
• AS/NZ 46022011
• This one is for high visibility (hi-vis) safety
  PPE. It mainly concentrates on clothes that
  either use fluorescent or retroreflective
  materials. These clothes can be categorised as
  Class D/N (day and night use), Class D (daytime
  use only), and Class N (night-time use only).
  Hi-vis garments help moving machinery or vehicle
  operators identify if other people are also
  working in the same workspace.

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• AS/NZ 1906.42010 
• This standard is for retroreflective materials,
  which are mainly worn by workers who work to
  maintain road traffic control. It determines the
  colour of the clothes and also demands the gear
  to encircle the upper torso properly. In
  addition, the back and front of the clothes also
  need to sport a 0.2 square metre high-visibility
  colour. The measurements do not include logos,
  silver tape, or screen-prints, etc.
• AS/NZS 4399  
• This standard is set for high-visibility personal
  equipment with ultraviolet protection or UPF.
  This type of PPE is a vital investment for people
  who have to work directly under the sun in
  extreme heat. However, it is important that you
  check the rating of the PPE before buying
  clothes. The UPF has to be at least at 15 UPF.

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Other Standards for PPE

• There are other standards that are set for PPE
  used by medical and non-medical professionals,
  such as hand sanitisers, surgical gloves, visors,
  and goggles, etc. Standards for such products
  include
• ANSI/AAMI PB702003 
• This standard delivers guidelines for selecting
  drapes and apparel that can keep the wearer safe
  from liquid contaminants in high-risk areas, for
  instance, healthcare facilities.
• ASTM 1671
• This one mentions the resistance of materials in
  protective clothing against harmful blood-borne
  pathogens. The materials undergo a rigorous
  testing technique that involves the use of
  Phi-X174 Bacteriophage Penetration testing.

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• ISO 22610 
• This standard constitutes gowns and surgical
  drapes in healthcare settings. It tells the
  necessary information needed for this medical
  equipment used by both the clinical staff and the
  patients.
• ISO 22612 
• The given standard explains the clothing required
  for protection against infectious agents that
  pass the dry microbial penetration test.
• ISO 102822014 
• This one explains which disposable sterile rubber
  surgical gloves need to be used. The AS/NZS
  41791997 also follows the same standard, but it
  may need updates.

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• AS NZS 4011 
• This is the standard set for single-use medical
  examination gloves. Rubber solution and rubber
  latex gloves are specified in Part One of this
  standard.
• AS/NZS 1337.12010 
• The standard under discussion deals with eye and
  face protective equipment. All approved products
  in this standard undergo rigorous testing at the
  University of New South Wales Optics and
  Radiometry Laboratory (ORLAB).
• EN13727 
• This standard acts as guidance for hand
  sanitisers. Products that contain this labelling
  have to pass an in vitro test. The test consists
  of an evaluation for the decrease of transient
  organisms under comparative conditions.
• And these are the most important standards for
  PPE in Australia that you need to know about,
  especially if you manage or work in a workplace
  where you have to work in extreme conditions and
  the use of PPE along with workwear is very
  important.

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The Bottom Line

• Developing Australian Standards for PPE is a long
  and exhaustive process and comes into place after
  a lot of combined effort on the part of the
  industry and the regulators. Experts and testing
  centres indulge in a lot of testing using the
  appropriate testing equipment to gather the
  required data. These standards are very crucial
  in a workspace because the safety of real people
  (workers and the public), and businesses, depends
  on them.
• Therefore, it is always advised to keep these
  standards in mind when buying PPE, whether youre
  a business owner or an employee. If your
  employees feel safe when working, they will not
  only work better but the productivity and quality
  of work will also improve.
• Also Read Personal Protective Equipment How to
  Choose the Quality PPE in 2021