Design Strategies to Reduce Personal Protective Equipment Noncompliance

Book chapter, 2024

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) noncompliance has been addressed through various lenses. In current literature, there is a greater focus on improving training and safety culture. Improving PPE design to persuade PPE compliance is less explored, especially in sectors beyond healthcare. This study investigates the reasons behind PPE noncompliance across construction, maritime, and chimney sweeping sectors. The results are then used to develop a set of design strategies for PPE manufacturers, as an alternative to merely addressing changes in training, work culture, or organizational procedures. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the sectors, participants, and work environments studied, the study builds upon a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and corresponding analysis approaches, with a greater emphasis on in-depth qualitative studies. The results were synthesized using an integrated synthesis method, which formed the basis for design strategies addressing multiple aspects of designing PPE, including but not limited to testing PPE in real settings and length of use, testing the simultaneous use of various PPEs, and assessing guessability.