Does my employer have to give me PPE?

If you are being told to buy safety boots, gloves or a respirator for the job, stop before paying. Your employer must provide required PPE free, and it must fit and protect you. Before your next shift, write down the hazard and the missing kit, then send your manager a message asking for suitable equipment and a safe way to do the task.

When must your employer provide it?

PPE is the last resort, not the first. An employer should remove or reduce the hazard with measures such as guarding a machine or ventilating a process. Under regulation 4 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, PPE is required where other means that are equally or more effective have not adequately controlled the risk.

Ear defenders do not excuse an employer from tackling excessive noise at source. Gloves alone will not make an unventilated solvent bath safe. Where protection is still needed, the employer must assess the equipment and check that pieces worn together remain effective. It must maintain and replace the kit, arrange storage, and give clear information and training. HSE explains the limits of PPE. It protects the wearer, not everyone nearby.

Who pays? You don’t

Section 9 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 prohibits charging employees for measures required by health and safety law. HSE says this covers required PPE, including refundable deposits. It also rules out deductions for ordinary wear and tear. In Northern Ireland, the equivalent no-charge provision is Article 10 of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.

Great Britain extended the PPE duties and no-charge protection to limb (b) workers on 6 April 2022. Northern Ireland did so under its separate regulations on 21 October 2024. The 2022 change expanded who was protected; it did not create a new PPE regime.

A PPE charge can also cut your pay below the minimum wage. HMRC’s PPE guidance says deductions for required kit, or payments to an employer or third party to buy it, reduce minimum-wage pay in that pay reference period. A later refund counts only in the period when it is repaid. A contractual charge for failure to return equipment through misconduct or negligence can be treated differently for minimum-wage purposes; that does not make every deduction lawful.

Who is covered?

Employees and limb (b) workers have the same PPE rights. For limb (b) status under section 230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, you personally do the work for someone who is not a client or customer of your own business. A casual, zero-hours or gig-work label does not settle the question. See how worker status is decided.

On an agency assignment, the employment business and the hirer must agree their health and safety responsibilities. The agency may be your employer in contract terms while the hirer controls the site. HSE says they should liaise before work starts. Ask which of them will supply your boots, helmet or gloves, in your size. See also agency workers’ rights.

Working from home does not cancel safety duties. A home workshop with hazardous dust may need respiratory protection. An ordinary desk job does not create a right to a hard hat. For display-screen equipment and other home-working duties, see health and safety for home workers.

Genuine independent contractors cannot demand free PPE under these regulations. If your undertaking falls into a prescribed category of higher-risk self-employment, you must provide your own suitable equipment under regulation 4(2); others are outside that particular self-provision duty. Other health and safety obligations may still apply.

What actually counts as PPE?

PPE is equipment you wear or hold at work to protect against a health or safety risk. It includes helmets, safety boots with protective toecaps, goggles, gloves, high-visibility clothing worn as protection, fall-arrest harnesses and respirators. What the equipment does determines whether it is PPE.

Ordinary work clothes do not qualify unless they protect you against a work risk.

Function matters more than the label. A plain logo polo shirt is not PPE; a flame-resistant overall, cut-resistant apron or hi-vis vest required because vehicles cross a worksite can be. Ordinary uniforms may be charged for under contract, subject to wage law.

Specialist rules govern protection against lead, asbestos, ionising radiation, hazardous substances and noise. In those cases, relevant duties under the general PPE regulations do not apply, but that does not remove the duty to protect you. A respirator required under COSHH or ear defenders required by the noise regulations still have to be supplied without a charge. The general PPE regulations also exclude road-travel helmets, competitive sports equipment and normal shipboard activities of sea-going crews.

Can you wear your own kit or barefoot shoes?

You cannot replace assessed safety footwear with fashion barefoot shoes if the job needs protection from falling objects, sharp materials or chemicals. An unmarked shoe with no protective toecap will not meet an impact-protection specification. You can ask to use your own footwear, but the employer still has to check that it meets the assessed requirements, fits and remains effective. In a warehouse, kitchen or delivery job, the answer is the footwear that controls the actual risk, not the cheapest dress-code option.

Comfort is part of safety, not a luxury. Regulation 4(3) requires PPE to account for the risk, how long it is worn, ergonomics, your health and the workstation, and to fit correctly. If boots cause pain, gloves stop you gripping tools or a respirator cannot seal against your face, report the problem and ask for a suitable alternative.

Where protection is not needed, a dress rule may still require closed footwear without turning those shoes into employer-funded PPE. A medical condition may call for a different approach or a reasonable adjustment; see help with work-related back pain.

Fit, maintenance, storage and training

Before selecting PPE, the employer must assess the remaining risks, work out what characteristics the equipment needs and compare available options. It must revisit the assessment when circumstances change. Where hygiene requires it, the employer must issue equipment for one person’s use only.

Under regulations 7-9, the employer must maintain, clean and replace PPE as needed, provide appropriate storage and explain the risks, purpose, use and care of the kit. Worn-out boots and spent filters are not your bill. A respirator left damp in a bag needs attention. So does one that is incompatible with your safety glasses.

For PPE placed on the market in Great Britain, government product-marking guidance accepts either UKCA or CE marking. In Northern Ireland it specifies CE, or CE with UKNI; UKCA alone is insufficient. A mark does not prove that a particular size or model protects you from your workplace hazard.

Your PPE duties and the risk of dismissal

Workers must use PPE in line with training and instructions, take reasonable steps to return it to storage after use, and report loss or obvious defects promptly. If a helmet cracks or a mask strap breaks, tell the employer before relying on it again.

If you refuse without good reason to wear required, suitable PPE, you risk disciplinary action, including dismissal. If required protection is missing, report the danger. Do not improvise with unsuitable equipment.

Section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 protects employees against automatically unfair dismissal for specified health and safety action. This includes leaving or refusing to return to a workplace in circumstances of serious and imminent danger which they could not reasonably be expected to avert. There is no qualifying service period for this claim. Section 44 provides protection from detriment, including for workers. Whether a particular refusal qualifies depends on the facts. Record the risk and seek advice promptly.

Replacements, loss and wage deductions

Your employer is responsible for normal wear and tear. It must replace worn-out safety boots free. Report lost or damaged kit immediately. A separate contract term may deal with failure to return equipment through misconduct or negligence. HMRC says such a charge need not reduce minimum-wage pay if both conditions are met. That is a minimum-wage calculation, not a general right to charge for required equipment.

Sikhs wearing turbans and hard hats

Under section 11 of the Employment Act 1989, a Sikh who wears a turban is exempt from legal requirements to wear a safety helmet at work, including on construction sites. The exemption extends to head protection, not goggles, gloves, boots or other necessary PPE. Employers must still manage head-injury risks as far as possible. See religion and workplace dress rules.

What to do if your employer won’t provide PPE

1. Write it down tonight. Note the task, hazard, missing or defective item, date and any charge. Photograph the kit or keep the receipt and payslip. Send your manager a short message and keep a copy.
2. Ask for a safe next shift. Ask what the risk assessment says, what suitable kit will be supplied and when. Do not use broken kit or improvise with something that does not protect you.
3. Bring in your people. Contact your safety representative or union. GMB represents workers in warehouses and retail; Unite has members in hospitality and food; UNISON represents care and health workers. Use the grievance process if needed. How to raise a grievance.
4. Report the right problem. Report unresolved danger to HSE, the local authority where it regulates the premises, or HSENI in Northern Ireland. Report PPE deductions that lower minimum-wage pay to HMRC using its minimum-wage complaint route. If an agency or gangmaster is involved in agriculture or food processing, contact the GLAA about labour exploitation. If the equipment or refusal is tied to sex, disability, race or another protected characteristic, get advice from the Equality Advisory and Support Service and consider an EHRC report.
5. Do not let a tribunal deadline pass. Get advice from your union, Acas early conciliation, Citizens Advice or a law centre promptly. Acas early conciliation is the required first step before most employment tribunal claims; time limits are short, and the date you contact Acas affects the calculation. Do not wait for an HSE investigation to finish before checking your claim deadline.

The general employment tribunal claim period increased from three to six months on 1 October 2026. Whether that change applies depends on when your claim arose, and Acas early conciliation affects the calculation. Check your deadline now, not after an investigation.