This video offers excellent step-by-step instructions for using full-body personal protective equipment (PPE). It’s also a great example of collaboration, created by WorkSafeBC, BC Safety Authority, and the BC Restoration Contractors Association.

Kathy Tull is a construction industry specialist with WorkSafeBC. She said the organizations teamed up to create the new video because they all needed new training resources for their staff and members who enter buildings. Even though it shows a restoration contractor at work, it’s also valuable to any other worker who may need to use this type of PPE.

“It’s of benefit to everybody who needs to protect themselves from exposure to hazardous materials like asbestos, lead, and mould,” Kathy says. “Protecting yourself can be achieved easily, if you know how. It’s identifying the hazards, assessing the risk, then knowing what the right equipment is, and how to use it properly. The next step is to practice doing it right before you need to use it.”

Bryan Lundale is the leader of safety culture at the BC Safety Authority. He says the video will assist with the training of their safety officers who inspect refrigerant sites, buildings after fires, and other hazardous places.

“Prior to the production of this video, we could only find training geared towards hazard and chemical suits used in biological and chemical exposures, which didn’t meet our needs,” Bryan says, describing how they needed a resource for showing how to use Tyvek suits, nitrile gloves, and other PPE.

“The video will assist us with continuing to foster a safety culture where safety is the first thought and priority when looking at any task.”