Optimizing the PPE Provision System for Employees: From Planning to Application

The transition to the Uniform Standard Norms (ETN) for PPE issuance in accordance with orders 766n and 767n has revealed vulnerabilities in the established supply processes of many companies. The lack of strict regulations, free-form requests from departments, and lengthy budget approvals inevitably lead to delays in providing employees with equipment. In conditions where an enterprise employs several thousand people and the nomenclature includes dozens of items, manual management without a clear structure becomes inefficient. Victoria Shevchuk, Leading HSE Specialist at ODK-Klimov, breaks down a step-by-step algorithm for optimizing PPE provision, which allows bringing order to processes from budget planning to issuing equipment to the end user.

Standardizing Requirements: From Chaos to a Brand Book

The first step towards a transparent system is abandoning fragmented requests. The presentation details the process of implementing corporate requirements for special clothing — a kind of enterprise brand book. This allows standardizing the parameters of purchased PPE, fixing technical characteristics, and minimizing the appearance of illiquid items in warehouses.

In parallel with visual and technical standardization, it is necessary to implement a strict provision regulation. Assigning areas of responsibility to specific departments, managers, and the employees themselves eliminates the loss of information during approval stages and accelerates the process of transferring needs to the procurement department.

Unified Nomenclature in 1C and Forming the Technical Specification

The speaker shows by example how fragmented data is transformed into a unified nomenclature directory in the 1C system. Each item now includes clear anthropometric data (height, size), gender affiliation, and primary purpose. This simplifies the formation of local requests and reduces the number of pricing errors by the supply department.

The technical specification is formed strictly based on the approved brand book. An important innovation was the rejection of a strict breakdown by specific sizes at the planning stage. Instead, a size range is specified, and contracts are concluded at unit rates. This provides flexibility: the warehouse orders exactly what the current staff needs, avoiding overstocking.

Transparent Budgeting and Inventory Tracking

Difficulties with budget defense often arise due to the opacity of data for financial services. The implementation of a new planning form made it possible to visually compare the indicators of the past and current periods. Now the document clearly reflects changes in headcount by profession, adjustments to issuance norms, and market price fluctuations. Additionally, warehouse balances are taken into account, and an emergency standby stock is formed in case of unexpected hiring of new employees, which eliminates equipment shortages.

Quality Control and Work with Personnel

Special attention is paid to incoming control and evaluation of samples before concluding a contract. Suppliers are required to provide control samples, which are checked for full compliance with the technical specification, down to the fabric shade. If a sample does not meet the declared characteristics, it is rejected even before the mass procurement stage.

However, issuing high-quality PPE is only half the task. For employees to actually use the protection, it must be comfortable. For this purpose, preliminary tests of new samples are conducted directly at workplaces, taking into account the specifics of a particular workshop. Regular personnel surveys allow receiving feedback, identifying quality problems in time, and adjusting the procurement policy.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to develop and implement a corporate PPE brand book for a large enterprise?
• How to transition to unit-rate procurement and reduce warehouse stock?
• How to build transparent budget planning taking into account staff turnover and price changes?
• How to organize the procedure for evaluating control samples before concluding a contract with a supplier?
• How to legitimately calculate the wear periods of PPE for managers who rarely visit the production site?