Individual protection:
The RD 773/1997 establishes that, within the framework of the Law 31/1995 for Occupational Risks Prevention, the minimum safety and health provisions for the worker’s choice and usage in the workplace and maintenance of the individual protection equipment.
Individual protection is a technique that aims at protecting the worker against external aggressions, either physical, chemical or biological, that may arise while developing a working activity.
Its goal is not to eliminate the risk of accident, but to reduce or eliminate the personal consequences or lession that it may cause on the worker, becoming in this way one the most worthwhile safety operational techniques if we take into account their low cost in relation to the degree of protection that they offer if they are used correctly.
The individual protection equipment (EPI) is any equipment to be carried by the worker in ordert ot protect him against one or several risks that may threaten his safety or health, as well as any complement or accessory with the same goal.
Collective protection:
Collective protection is the safety technique whose goal is the simultaneous protection of several workers exposed to a certain risk. An example is the systems used against falls from heights (railings, footbridges, safety nets, scaffoldings, grilles, hole coverings...) used in the construction industry.
