What's in this template?
This Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Policy gives Australian healthcare practices the WHS framework for selecting, providing, fitting, training for, maintaining and replacing PPE, built from WHS Regulations 44 and 45 and the hierarchy of controls in the Model Code of Practice: How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks.
The template includes:
- The boundary against your Infection Prevention and Control Policy, so clinical PPE selection and the WHS provision duty are never confused with each other
- A PPE inventory table covering clinical and non-clinical equipment: gloves, masks, manual handling gloves, safety footwear, hearing protection
- Provision, fit and comfort requirements, including the rule against assuming a single standard size fits everyone
- Training and fit-check requirements, including a basic fit check for P2/N95 respiratory protection
- Appendix A: a PPE issue and fit-check register
Editable placeholder fields
{{practice_name}},{{abn}},{{practice_address}}{{whs_officer}},{{ppe_custodian}}{{clinical_ppe_supplier}},{{manual_handling_ppe_supplier}},{{footwear_basis}},{{footwear_supplier}},{{hearing_protection_use}},{{other_ppe_use}}{{effective_date}},{{next_review_date}}
Two different questions about PPE
Your Infection Prevention and Control Policy already has a section on PPE: gloves, masks, P2/N95 respirators, eye protection and gowns, selected by transmission-based precaution for a given clinical scenario. This template does not repeat that. It answers a different question.
| This policy | Infection Prevention and Control Policy | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | How does the practice provide, fit, train for, maintain and replace PPE, as a WHS duty owed to the worker? | Which PPE does a clinician wear for which clinical task, as an infection control measure? |
| Scope | All PPE: clinical and non-clinical (manual handling gloves, safety footwear, hearing protection) | Clinical PPE only, selected by transmission-based precaution |
The Infection Prevention and Control Policy tells a clinician what to put on before seeing a symptomatic patient. This policy tells the practice how it makes sure the right size was available, that the worker was actually trained to use it, and that a damaged item gets replaced rather than kept in service. Read them together for clinical PPE, and rely on this policy alone for everything else a practice provides: manual handling gloves, safety footwear for a maintenance task, hearing protection where relevant.
What the WHS Regulations actually require
PPE sits at the bottom of the hierarchy of controls, used only once elimination, substitution, isolation and engineering controls have already reduced a risk as far as reasonably practicable, or as an interim measure while a better control is put in place. Where PPE is still needed, Regulation 44 requires the PCBU to provide it (unless another duty holder already has), and Regulation 45 sets out the standard that provision has to meet: PPE selected to minimise risk, suitable for the work and the hazard, the right size, and reasonably comfortable for the individual worker wearing it. The regulations also require the practice to maintain, repair or replace PPE so it continues to do its job, and to provide the information, training and instruction a worker needs to use, store and maintain it properly.
None of that is specific to clinical infection control. It applies equally to a pair of manual handling gloves or a maintenance contractor's safety footwear, which is exactly the gap most generic PPE templates miss when they are written purely around infection control.
How to customise this template
- Download the Word document and replace every
{{placeholder}}with your details. - List everything in Section 5, not just clinical PPE. Manual handling gloves, safety footwear for maintenance tasks, and hearing protection all belong here even if your Infection Prevention and Control Policy already covers gloves and masks.
- Confirm sizing is genuinely available, not assumed. A practice that stocks only one glove size has not met the fit and comfort standard in Regulation 45.
- Populate Appendix A as PPE is issued, particularly for reusable or fitted items, so training and replacement due dates are visible.
- Cross-reference your Manual Handling Policy for the risk assessment behind any non-clinical PPE like handling gloves.
- Review every two years, or sooner if the PPE the practice provides changes, or after an incident involving PPE.
Related templates and tools
- Infection Prevention and Control Policy: which clinical PPE to wear for which clinical task. Read alongside this policy for clinical PPE, which this policy governs the provision of.
- WHS Manual Handling Policy: the risk assessment behind manual handling PPE like gloves and back support.
- WHS Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination Policy: consultation on PPE selection is a WHS Act requirement, not just good practice.
- WHS Incident Report Form: log an injury or exposure that occurred despite PPE being worn correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need this if we already have an Infection Prevention and Control Policy?
Yes, if the practice provides any PPE beyond clinical gloves, masks and gowns, or wants the provision, fit, training and maintenance duty documented separately from the clinical selection guidance. The Infection Prevention and Control Policy answers which PPE to wear for which clinical scenario. This policy answers whether the practice's provision of that PPE, and everything else it provides, actually meets the WHS standard.
What non-clinical PPE does a general practice typically need to cover?
Manual handling gloves or back support for staff moving stock or equipment, safety footwear for anyone doing maintenance or cleaning tasks with an identified risk, and hearing protection if any equipment on the premises warrants it. Most of this is easy to overlook because it is not part of the clinical PPE conversation, which is exactly why this policy exists as a separate document.
Does PPE replace other safety controls?
No. PPE is the last control considered, used after eliminating the hazard, substituting a safer alternative, isolating the hazard, or applying engineering controls has already reduced the risk as far as reasonably practicable. A practice that reaches for PPE first, without considering those higher-order controls, has not met the hierarchy of controls standard.
Who pays for PPE?
The practice. Regulation 44 requires PPE to be provided to the worker, and it is well established that this means at no cost to the worker, in a range of sizes sufficient to properly fit the workforce.
What counts as a fit check for a P2 or N95 mask?
A basic seal check performed by the wearer each time the mask is put on, confirming there is no air leaking around the edges. This is different from, and does not replace, a formal fit test where one is clinically indicated for a specific role. The template's Section 7 covers the basic fit check as the minimum training expectation.
Do contractors need to follow this policy?
Contractors bring and are responsible for their own PPE in most cases, but the practice still has a duty to identify where a contractor's task creates a risk to the practice's own workers, and to coordinate on PPE where relevant, consistent with the consultation and coordination duty in the WHS Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination Policy.