Risk assessment and requirements for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in agriculture

Many working places in agriculture and horticulture affect farmers' health by various kinds of load, such as mechanical or heat stress, or exposure to airborne contaminants which may harm or irritate skin or breathing. This can be gases and particles, which form very complex bio-aerosols depending on the kind of source. One important source of airborne contaminants are pesticides which include possible risks. In all cases the possible risks have to be limited by reducing load or by using different types of PPE to protect the head, feet, whole body or respiration. This equipment must be tested and certified according the EU Directive 891686 EEC and CEN standard, as far as available. In other cases, national standards or guidelines may be used, as it is done in Germany with the definition of PPE to protect users of plant protection products (PPP). Risk assessment requires consideration of exposure data and of suitable protective measures. A particularity of the German model of risk assessment is to be seen in fixing limit values of penetration, e. g. 5 % concerning suits. A standard European testing procedure is currently under discussion in the framework of CEN work item WI 00162217. Concerning hand protection, gloves will be tested according to EN 374, which is under revision at the present time.