The Government has extended the duty of an employer to provide suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) to all workers not just employees. From 6 April 2022 it will be incumbent on businesses to provide suitable PPE to mitigate health and safety risks for workers, including zero hours staff, as well as their full time or part time employees.
In practice many businesses do already treat their workers in the same way as their employees in respect of the provision of PPE so as to ensure that the overall workplace remains safe. The omission of workers from the Regulations always appeared to be an anomaly and following a High Court challenge in 2020 the Government has amended the law. The employer’s duty will apply during periods that a worker is working under their worker’s contract but not at other times.
The prohibition on employers charging employees for PPE will also be extended to cover workers.
If you have any questions about this change in the Regulations or the requirement to provide PPE more generally please contact our Employment Team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our Team will be in touch.