How to calculate the expiry date of your PPE?

PPE or personal protective equipment is intended to protect workers in hazardous areas. It is of paramount importance that these PPE are monitored and checked after a few years of use so as not to endanger the safety of your employees. Although it is not easy to determine its lifespan, article 2 of the decree of March 19, 1993 of the labor code on the periodic general verification stipulates its disposal when the expiry date arrives at its end. It is therefore important to know how to calculate the lifespan of PPE.

What is PPE?

A personal protective equipment is a means made available to a person to protect him against one or more risks likely to jeopardize his health and safety, particularly at work. In general, it is the protection of the body by a workwear, a safety shoe, as well as many accessories, such as the noise-cancelling headphones, the glove, the masks, the safety harness and many other devices.

Who defines the lifespan of personal protective equipment?

Usually it should be set by the manufacturer itself. It must mention it indelibly on each PPE placed on the market, as well as on its packaging. Otherwise, the expiry date is ideally marked in the information leaflet to allow the user to know until when he can use the device, and even to see the quality level of the model. and its conditions of storage, use, cleaning, inspection and maintenance. Moreover, knowledge of these guarantees the longevity of the product. It is necessary to dissect this manual to find the durability of the equipment.

When should PPE be renewed?

It is advisable to renew PPE when its performance is significantly affected by the aging phenomenon. They must always be replaced in the event of deterioration, wear, when their use-by date is reached, or in the event of loss of conformity. Deterioration and wear depend on its use, but as a rule, the manufacturer always defines two lifespans for a product: the first starts from the year of manufacture, and the second is defined by its storage time. and use is its maximum lifespan.

Its conditions of use can also determine the lifespan of a PPE, such as thermal or mechanical constraints, humidity or sunglasses unprotected in a toolbox and many more.

Calculating the expiry date of safety equipment

The calculation method is very simple. Just take the date of manufacture of the PPE and add it to its lifespan. But since there are 2 lifetimes for each piece of equipment, the calculation is done in two different ways:

• 1?? method: the year of manufacture + the maximum lifespan.
• 2d method: the 1?? year of use + lifetime of use.

The manufacturer may not mention the year of manufacture of the PPE. In this case, it is possible to replace it with the date of purchase of your PPE. For example, if you bought your safety helmet on June 09, 2020 and used it for the first time on January 10, 2021, you can do the calculation according to what is mentioned on the label, such as max life: 15 years and usage life: 10 years. The calculation is done as follows:

• 1?? method: 2020 +15 = 2035.
• 2d method: 2021 + 10= 2031

This method is not suitable for all ears, as some do not have an expiry date and each may have its own expiry date. There are also differences depending on whether the product is made of textile or if it has textile components in any way, such as the harness, the lanyard or the self-retracting webbing reels. These have a maximum shelf life of 10 years from the date of manufacture. This equipment may not show wear, but it is obvious that it no longer has the same properties as at the beginning.

For metal and mechanical products, such as the carabiner or the rope rescue winch, the lifespan is unlimited as long as they are certified and repaired after periodic inspections.

In any case, they must all be changed in the event of deterioration of any PPE (personal protective equipment).

Don't forget PPE: headphones, or safety shoe, safety trainers, etc must be completed with work clothes: Work Pants, work overalls, or more specific work clothes such as high visibility clothing.