Posted By Bob Youel Colleagues. What do people do with regards to supplying boots etc to temporary [v- short term in medium / higher risk environments]agency employees. Please no ref to law or the self employed agency temps. I would like to know what people are actually doing as against what we should do. Regards.

Posted By Geoff Burt Bob There was a similar discussion several weeks ago which provided information on what some companies do. Unfortunately when I put up PPE in the search facility I get over 200 responses (appeared contains the letters 'ppe' for example), and I can't spot which one it was. Geoff

Posted By Sean Fraser I know the request was not to have yet another theoretical debate on the subject, but I couldn't resist. It all comes down to the status of the person actually doing the work. If they are self employed and are using the agency as a means of obtaining short term contracts, the individual is responsible for providing their own safe tools under PUWER and their own PPE to help carry out their work safely. If they are employed by the agency, then the agency is responsible for ensuring the are provided with these items and under HASAWA '74, they are to do this free of charge. I applaud those who have not been tempted to turn a blind eye to what was no doubt industry practice and reported offenders to the HSE - the client will always be a stronger voice against the rogue elements than their employees ever will be. As I said in previous thread, I believe that a clear policy statement on the matter built into the tendering stage and the final contract will make responsibilities abundantly clear - so if someone appears without the right tools and equipment which was part of the contractual agreement, there is a breach of contract and work cannot begin until the breach is rectified. It would be difficult for a rogue trader to take this to court and sue for damages in any case!