What does ‘O’ mean to you?
October 1st 2007 In future issues, the BSIF will attempt to clarify some regularly-used expressions that mean a variety of different things to different people. Such variations create difficulties when several people are discussing important aspects of occupational health and safety.
Category 0 PPE, for example is commonly used to describe any product which falls outside the scope of the PPE Directive/ Regulations – not true. There is no reference to Category 0. However, there are products that are within the scope of PPE when used at work that are NOT PPE when used by the public – washing-up gloves, foul weather clothing, and so on. There is now a convention which regards washing-up gloves designed for domestic use as Category 0.
If there are any expressions you would like the BSIF to clarify, please advise the editor. More articles from British Safety Industry Federation: | 
