The answer is "never". The question is...

Posted by Martin Lill of Lakeland Industries on April 30, 2020

“When is it safe to re-use disposable safety clothing?”

The current demand for some types of PPE as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis is unprecedented. This demand is global and the fact is pressure on maintaining supply to all the places it is needed or wanted is inevitable. Current demand far outstrips supply and increasing capacity in response cannot happen overnight.

There is unfortunately no avoiding a time lag between the increased demand and the manufacturing capacity response, during which time there are likely to be shortages. And PPE other than that used as part of the Covid-19 response will be affected because the base materials and components used are also used in other types of PPE. As a result, we are receiving many questions regarding the possibility of re-using disposable garments.

Under normal circumstances the simple answer to the question posed in the title of this blog is “never”. These garments are designed to be single use; they should be used once then disposed of appropriately.

However, what if the situation is this: the choice is either re-use a coverall or not use protection at all simply because circumstances beyond anyone’s control mean that there are no replacement coveralls to use. Ideally in this case the job should simply be postponed. But obviously in some cases this is not feasible – in the care of suffering patients for example.

So is it reasonable then to re-use garments? Under what circumstances? And if garments are re-used what measures can be taken to minimise risk? This blog considers some of the answers to these questions.

To read the remainder of this article, click here.

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