What the record is for
Set up as an issue register, a PPE record serves one purpose: to name who is liable if something goes missing. The questions asked on the safety side are different, and all four need dates:
- Does the person doing this task have the equipment the task requires?
- Since when has it been in use?
- When was the last check, and what did it find?
- When is it due for replacement?
What the record should hold
- person and role,
- equipment type, model, serial or batch number,
- standard and category,
- issue date, service life and any expiry date,
- inspection records and findings,
- date and reason for withdrawal from use.
Why the standard and category are kept too
When a standard is withdrawn or a defect is reported for a product, the question becomes “who has one of these?”. An inventory that does not hold the standard and the batch number can answer only by counting the stores by hand — which is why most workplaces cannot answer at all.
The withdrawal record
Removing damaged or expired equipment from the record is not enough; it has to leave the site, and that has to be recorded. Otherwise damaged equipment set aside “as a spare” ends up on somebody on the worst possible day.
How this stands in Optifora
Selection, inventory and inspection records are parts of the same record: the result of a selection is stored, the issue is attached to it, and the inspection finding is written onto the same record. Storing the selection result is a deliberate decision — even if the catalogue changes, a selection signed last year goes on saying what it said then.