Article 4U.K.General provisions
1.Personal protective equipment must comply with the relevant Community provisions on design and manufacture with respect to safety and health.
All personal protective equipment must:
(a)be appropriate for the risks involved, without itself leading to any increased risk;
(b)correspond to existing conditions at the workplace;
(c)take account of ergonomic requirements and the worker's state of health;
(d)fit the wearer correctly after any necessary adjustment.
2.Where the presence of more than one risk makes it necessary for a worker to wear simultaneously more than one item of personal protective equipment, such equipment must be compatible and continue to be effective against the risk or risks in question.
3.The conditions of use of personal protective equipment, in particular the period for which it is worn, shall be determined on the basis of the seriousness of the risk, the frequency of exposure to the risk, the characteristics of the workstation of each worker and the performance of the personal protective equipment.
4.Personal protective equipment is, in principle, intended for personal use.
If the circumstances require personal protective equipment to be worn by more than one person, appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure that such use does not create any health or hygiene problem for the different users.
5.Adequate information on each item of personal protective equipment, required under paragraphs 1 and 2, shall be provided and made available within the undertaking and/or establishment.
6.Personal protective equipment shall be provided free of charge by the employer, who shall ensure its good working order and satisfactory hygienic condition by means of the necessary maintenance, repair and replacements.
However, Member States may provide, in accordance with their national practice, that the worker be asked to contribute towards the cost of certain personal protective equipment in circumstances where use of the equipment is not exclusive to the workplace.
7.The employer shall first inform the worker of the risks against which the wearing of the personal protective equipment protects him.
8.The employer shall arrange for training and shall, if appropriate, organize demonstrations in the wearing of personal protective equipment.
9.Personal protective equipment may be used only for the purposes specified, except in specific and exceptional circumstances.
It must be used in accordance with instructions.
Such instructions must be understandable to the workers.