Being in business can be a costly venture, with many associated costs such as rent, salaries, insurance and tax all quickly adding up. You can often cut some of these costs out in places to run a more lean operation, however there are expenses you can’t avoid, Personal Protection Equipment or PPE is one of those.

 

The core responsibility an employer has for their employees is to keep them safe in the workplace. Since the Health and Safety in the Workplace Act of 1974 and the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations of 1992, it has been enshrined in UK law that employers must provide the equipment an employee requires to do their job. This can be anything from hard hats, gloves, goggles, in fact any piece of safety equipment you can think of that’s task specific.

 

It is often possible to save money on PPE without having a detrimental impact on the safety of your employees.

 

Probably the best ways to save money on PPE are as follows:


1. Buy PPE in bulk – you won’t get the best deals if you only buy a handful of items, whereas if you buy in bulk, more favourable discounts will be passed on to you whilst you will always have the safety equipment you regularly use to hand so you won’t have to down tools as often.
2. Choosing Quality PPE – often companies will look to buy the cheapest PPE they can, however this is generally a false economy as the equipment will often wear out faster than a higher quality product. At OBAS we only supplies quality PPE products, and whilst recommending our customers always choose higher quality PPE supplies, we do have a range of products to suit the budgetary requirements of our customers.
3. Repair PPE if possible – as we sell personal protection equipment you might not expect us to be advocates of repairing PPE products, however many PPE supplies can be repaired before they need to be replaced. However be aware that many items of PPE, such as hard harts or safety goggles, must be replaced rather than repaired. Also, items such as hard hats have a use by date which you must consider before attempting to extend their life.
4. Share PPE with other companies – If you regularly work with another business you may be able to share the costs of your PPE product investment to a minimum.

 

Although it is possible to make some savings to your PPE budget, the most important thing to consider is the health, welfare and safety of your employees; that's something you won't want to compromise on.

 

View our full range of Personal Protectionm Equipment or contact us on 01772 786000.