ABSTRACT

Personal protective equipment belongs to the group of equipment that protects the employees against dangers in the workplace. The decision to use such equipment must be preceeded by all possible actions, both technical and organizational, aimed at eliminating or reducing the hazard to an admissible level. The basic development trends referring to particular types of personal protective equipment have been presented here. This especially concerns solutions in protective clothing, hand and foot protection, with particular emphasis put on producing clothing ensuring the sense of comfort and optima functioning for the user, applying new composites, intelligent textiles and nanotechnology. As for respiratory protective equipment and equipment protecting against falls from a height, directions in development of this equipment was discussed, emphasizing the use of new construction elements and electronic systems in order to inform the user of any changes in protective features and I or usage during the time of using those agents.