Collection: PPE

Personal protective equipment only protects if it is worn, and it is only worn if it is bearable for a whole day. It is the criterion that technical data sheets mention least and the one that decides in the workshop.

By type of protection

• Respiratory protection: disposable masks, reusable half masks and full face masks, filters and cartridges, powered air systems.
• Hearing protection: earplugs, banded earplugs and ear defenders.
• Head and face protection: welding helmets, face shields, goggles.
• Protective gloves and body protection.
• Safety glasses.

Reading a respiratory filter marking

A filter's code says exactly what it protects against, and what it does not.

The letters designate the contaminant family: A for organic vapours, B for inorganic gases, E for acid gases, K for ammonia. The following number indicates capacity, from 1 to 3.

P designates protection against particles, from P1 to P3. A combined filter does both, for example A2P3.

The key point: a particle filter stops no gas and a gas filter stops no particles. An A2 mask does not protect against welding fume, a P3 does not protect against a solvent.

The date, often forgotten

A gas filter becomes saturated even without being used, as soon as its packaging is opened, because it adsorbs the ambient air. A filter that has been opened and then left in a locker for several months no longer protects, with no visible sign.

Two habits: write the opening date on the filter, and store it in a sealed bag between uses. For particles, the marker is different and simpler: change it when breathing resistance increases.

The seal matters more than the class

A higher-class mask that fits poorly protects less than a lower-class mask worn correctly, because air takes the easiest path, namely leaks at the face. A few days of beard is enough to make a half mask ineffective: in that case, only a powered air system, working at slight positive pressure, remains effective.