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Posted By Mark Eden
Could any body enlighten me with the regard of re-using PPE. A manager at work has come up with an idea to save used nitrile Marigolds, send them away to be cleaned and, hey presto, nice clean gloves. One problem that springs to mind is we currently use several different sizes, so choosing your gloves would be pot look. Other points come to mind, such as what the gloves were initially contaminated with by the original user.
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Posted By Jonathan Breeze
Mark,
It is an issue that has just been raised in our workplace also.
I would suggest that the re-issue of PPE without an inspection at least as stringent as those set out in the required BS, EN or ISO standards for PPE, is a bad idea and likely to leave your employees at risk.
It may also leave your company exposed to potential litigation, should an accident occur.
The recent modifications to the PPE @ Work Regs. state that individuals must be provided with personal sets of PPE, where it is necessary for reasons of hygiene and to ensure there is no risk to health.
That seems to imply (to me) that re-use of the PPE you describe may be a breach of regs.
Any other thoughts would be welcome as I am currently fomulating my response to the suggestion.
Jon
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Posted By Roger Smith
The issue of identifying the correct size of gloves could easily be resolved by ensuring that different sizes were purchased in different colours, (e.g. blue = large, yellow = medium, etc).
The real problem would be how to ensure that gloves had been cleaned properly and then inspected for tears, holes, missing fingers etc before reissue.
Unless the gloves are particularly specialist, the final cost and administrative effort of the cleaning and inspection process may well turn out to be far more expensive than simply buying new gloves when the old ones become contaminated.
Roj
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Posted By Bob Pedley
This can be done Mark but there are lots of issues to contend with, mainly the contaminated effluent produced during the washing process.
Large organisations dealing with known contaminants often launder PPE but they employ a strict system of controls to ensure the PPE has been properly cleaned, tested and sorted for re-use.
If you don't know what the contaminants are, you are on a loser from the start.
Bob
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Posted By Alison Dando
I am amazed that recycling gloves appears to be a standard practise. I can understand recycling the fabric e.g. rubber to make other items but not the glove itself.
We don't recycle non disposable gloves. We tell our staff that they have a working life and then they must be changed regulary even if they appear alright. This is due to that in normal use they will be issues of permeation and degradation of the fabric (even if you clean them and rinse them properly) by the chemical.There is also the gradual breakdown of the fabric when you put repeatedly put gloves on and off and also small amounts of fabric actually are shed when you do this. Most of this damage is not visible to the naked eye.
Gloves are personal issue only because of control of infection issues. We insist that any cuts should be covered with waterproof dressings before putting gloves on and jewellery (except smooth band wedding rings) should be removed.
Maintenance, which includes cleaning will extend the working life of an item but not indefinitely.
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Posted By Roger Smith
I agree with Alison, (and I think thats what I attempted to say in my first response)... Rubber / Nitrile gloves are cheap enough to replace when they become worn or too contaminated to be simply rinsed off under the tap. Any process to clean, inspect and reissue the gloves would cost far more than the gloves themselves.
Buy and issue new.
Roj
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