Stephen, the long-sleeved shirts and long-legged trousers PPE continues to be a difficult challenge in many workplaces. The hazard control logic is clear but wearing total coverage is contrary to how many of us have been raised. When it is hot, you wear as little clothing as possible in order to cool down. This activity was understandable prior to the increase of ultraviolet rays and the increase in skin cancer risks.

There are some very good lightweight UV protection clothing and some projects I have worked on have provided Winter- and Summer-weighted clothing. The Australian Standards for PPE are there for a good reason and should be followed. There are risks with sleeves in some instances or with unbuttoned shirts but these can be anticipated.

I have not been on a construction site where the employer/contractor has not provided PPE. It is the employer’s duty to provide a workplace without OHS risks so they should provide PPE, if they can’t control, the risk in other ways, but I have also purchased my own PPE in some circumstances through choice – Summer-weight safety boots, wide brim for the hard hat, gloves – because I wanted better quality than what the employer offered. I have a friend who paid around $100 for a hard hat that he could trust to do the job even though cheaper ones still met the relevant Standard.

I wanted to push thoughts in my article beyond the PPE issue as we should be thinking of ways to reduce climate change-related work risks without relying on PPE. We should be rethinking how mandatory our rules should be. For instance, in the rail environment, workers are still required to wear long-sleeved shirts, intended for UV protection, on night shift. Consistency is worthy but this type of situation causes workers to wonder about the logic of some OHS decisions.

Equally concerning was the issue of non AS compliant hi vis clothing which was extremely flammabe even from a few sparks. This cannot be allowed to continue, but seems to go unchecked in many cases with regular construction and building ads in the media seeking workers, but putting in the line “must have own ppe”.

Wjhen are these sorts of employers going to get the message that they ave a responsibility to provide the PPE without cost to the employee? We still obviously have quite a way to go on both employeer and worker front go get some universal thinking and accord on such issues.