I just wanted to gather people’s thoughts on providing PPE for a course Tutor who undertakes hill walking classes on a sporadic basis. By the letter of the law (PPE Regs) we should provide PPE such as Boots and warm clothing etc. However, if the tutor already has these as the course tutor conducts other courses in their own time and is a keen rambler. Surely if we confirm the tutor has suitable clothing available then this is fine? As for people attending the classes we provide information beforehand about what clothing they should have. I’m pretty sure we have no duty to supply them with boots? Thanks in advance Steve

Or in other words What you said :)

I read the OP's post differently, so a little confused. I took it that this person is a tutor employed by whatever company you represent. Therefore they are an employee. I take it that people are paying your organisation for the privilege of being taught to hill walk, by this person. The person from a RA would need to have suitable footwear, and should therefore not be expected to use their own personal kit. I have some safety boots I use in the garden, if I got a job in a factory I would not expect my employer to ask if I had some boots I could bring in. The question is really about this sporadic element isn't it? Say they only run this course twice a year, so should you pay. Sorry I would say yes to the Tutor and no to the customers (unless intended to be part of the deal they purchased). Even if this person is a volunteer, I think it should be provided. However footwear does need to be broken in and they may not want it. If you think they are just after new kit for the fun of it, ensure that the boots are not taken from your organisation other than for these set classes.

As always the devil is in the detail. You don’t say whether this tutor is an employee or contracted to provide the service and or what service you are actually providing. But on the basis of the information that you have provided, I would say that it is reasonable to expect him or her to provide their own kit and likewise for the ‘participants’ to do so also. A little more information would be helpful in order to get a better picture of the scenario though.