[doingtheiroming]

I often observe that PPE compliance in the U.K. is dramatically better than it is on the continent where I live. In part I think that’s a result of the concentration of the building contractor business and the (relatively) strong enforcement of workplace regulation at sites of large construction projects.

You’d be shocked in the U.K. if you saw someone scaffolding a building without a helmet. In the EU, you’re shocked if they are wearing one.

[aaronmdjones]

I live in the UK and used to be an electrician. What you say is for the most part true; on any commercial or industrial site or construction project, the building or site manager is going to come down hard on you if you're not using appropriate PPE. It's a liability and ass-covering thing: if you get injured (or indeed killed), even if it's entirely your fault and would have been avoided by using PPE, the manager is liable, and HSE will bury them. They know this, and they will expel you from the site if you don't comply.

That said, it's all a wash in residential. I've seen plenty of plumbers and heating engineers drilling walls without any eye or ear protection. I've seen plenty of heating engineers soldering copper pipes without a mask and in poor ventilation (e.g. tight cupboards). I've even seen other electricians installing meter tails into a live supply without any gloves, standing on conductive surfaces like surface drainage grates.

[InCityDreams]

Which part of Europe? Ppe is very much mandatory with big fucking signs on every site displaying what is required where i am. And I mean every [legal] site*. A site without a sign invites a lot of questions. When I had my building renovated, the builder tried to work without a sign....no chance! By registering, and displaying the sign, it meant he had to follow the rules. I never saw similar in the uk (for example on a house), but I also wasn't looking, despite labouring for several years there.