On 6^th April 2022 the Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (PPER 2022) come into force. This duty extends to limb (b) workers.

Definitions of limb (a) and limb (b) workers

In the UK, section 230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996’s definition of a worker has 2 limbs:

• Limb (a) describes those with a contract of employment. This group are employees under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and are already in scope of PPER 1992.
• Limb (b) describes workers who generally have a more casual employment relationship and work under a contract for service – they do not currently come under the scope of PPER 1992

Generally, workers who come under limb (b):

• carry out casual or irregular work for one or more organisations
• after 1 month of continuous service, receive holiday pay but not other employment rights such as the minimum period of statutory notice
• only carry out work if they choose to
• have a contract or other arrangement to do work or services personally for a reward (the contract doesn’t have to be written) and only have a limited right to send someone else to do the work, for example swapping shifts with someone on a pre-approved list (subcontracting)
• are not in business for themselves (they do not advertise services directly to customers who can then also book their services directly)

These changes do not apply to those who have a ‘self-employed’ status.

iProtectU EHS Software has full PPE Management and Stock control, PPE e-Learning and toolbox talks are also available.

For more information  on the iProtectU software visit  www.iprotectu.co.uk