I’d be very wary about expecting your guys to take this stuff home. If they do take the overalls home then anybody handling them, (wives mothers etc) could be exposed to the risk associated with these substances. Repeat exposure to these sorts of substances poses all sorts of risks. In the past the classic case was wives getting asbestosis form cleaning their husbands’ overalls. So an action under section 3 of Health and Safety at Work Act and the general common law of negligence.
Also likely is that the wives/mothers might end up refusing to ruin their washing machines washing this stuff guys would end up not bothering to get these items cleaned at all and wearing scanky kit and this could be described as a failure to maintain PPE under the PPE Regulation 7-Maintenance and replacement of personal protective equipment
(1)
“Every employer shall ensure that any personal protective equipment provided to his employees is maintained (including replaced or cleaned as appropriate) in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.”

Take a look at:
www.cdc.gov/niosh/pdfs/95-123.pdf

Chris

I'll also point out that domestic washing machines are not designed to be subjected to inustrial solvents or abrasive materials.
And; how often do they get replaced?
Weekly seems the norm. But if your guys get any harmful materials or liquids on their overalls they should be changed immediately.

Not really.
Been there.
Some coveralls need dry cleaning, flame resistant ones for a start.
It's worth checking the procedure used for cleaning if you have FR coveralls.

David

But you can still get some interesting results. We were tasked to help investigate a case where an offshore technician had to be evacuated because of a severe skin reaction on whole body except hands and face. Assumption initially was the fire retardant coating on the overalls, but patch testing was negative. The dermatologist we were working with finally traced the cause to the residue in the overalls of a fragrance that was an extremely rare sensitiser and was used in the washing powder . The technician now takes his own overalls to the rig and washes them himself. So far this has resolved the problem.

Of course, nowhere was the fragrance listed as a sensitiser and thus not on the safety data sheet!

Chris

My sons 21 and a chief at a beefeater. He brings home ALL his work clothing home to be washed. I beleive his overalls," supplied by his employer " are classed as PPE, therefore are his employers not responsible for cleaning them?

I agree with DavidH. It all depends upon the purpose for which the item is being supplied and used. It's the same sometimes with gloves. Where these are being supplied to protect the product from the person, e.g. when handling food, then they would not be PPE. The same gloves worn to protect the person from the product, e.g. a chemical or biological hazard, would be PPE. Of course, sometimes gloves can be worn to serve both purposes simultaneously. So determining whether something is PPE requires one to look at the reason it is being used.

Chris

The HSE and UKATA certainly agree with you, David.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/as...iddenkiller/handling.htm