EU policy in support of resilient, green and digital PPE
Lidia Godlewska-Carmona, EU Commission DG GROW, Unit H2 Machinery & Equipment, Deputy Head of Unit
EU Health and Safety at Work legislation – use of personal protective equipment at the workplace
Gordana Materljan dipl. iur., EU Commission DG EMPL, Unit C2 Health & Safety at Work, Legal Officer
Safe and Healthy work in the digital age: managing emerging opportunities and challenges for digitalisation in the workplace
Annick Starren, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Project Manager
Digital product passport for sustainable PPE
Ilias Iakovidis PhD, EU Commission DG CONNECT, Adviser - Digital aspects of Green Transition
Session 1 : innovative products (certification - market introduction) => 1st round of 3 parallel sessions
Innovation in PPE - how to tackle the challenges and why it is worth it - Jan Vincent Jordan/ Rahel Heesemann, RWTH-ITA
Active lighting in visibility clothing : standardisation -Jan Beringer, Hohenstein
How technology and product design can work hand in hand to reduce the risk of MSDs - Adrian Rusu, Ansell
Session 2 : sustainability - evidencing => 1st round of 3 parallel sessions
PCR (Product Category Rules) for respiratory protective equipment - Giovanna Longo, 3M
Greenwashing - green labels for PPE, Wouter De Broeck, Alsico/ ESF WG sustainability TG Green Claims
Session 3 : chemical substances and PPE=> 1st round of 3 parallel sessions
Graphene face masks - Araceli Sánchez Jiménez, INSST-CNMP
Management of Hazardous Substances i.e. chemical safety / risk and consequences of exposure to toxic chemicals - Mounir Djama, Ansell
Restrictions to the use of PFAS, Upcoming European measures to potentially restrict the use of the broad group of PFAS in PPE - Martijn Beekman, EU Commission DG GROW, Reach unit
Session 4 : sustainability - practical experiences =>2nd round of 3 parallel sessions
Sustainability and Ansell experience - Loredana Palmeri, Ansell
Circletex - the belgian valorisation system for textiles (including PPE) - Jo Van Landeghem, Circletex
Transforming leather PPE into organic fertilizer - Joana Brasil, JGB Equipamentos de Segurança
Session 5 : market surveillance =>2nd round of 3 parallel sessions
Activities of market surveillance authorities - Wendy Van Aerschot, SPF Economy, Belgian market surveillance authority
High visibility clothing : the grey zone narrowed ? - Pilar Cáceres Armendáriz, INSST-CNMP
Interactions by different types of PPE worn simultaneously - Martin Liedtke, IFA
Session 6 : respirator face fit testing - standards & best =>2nd round of 3 parallel sessions
Why face fit testing – different technologies – different legislation - different protocols
Panel participants from different countries (UK, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain)
Demonstrations
Face fit testing respiratory protection
Active lighting in visibility clothing
Airbag in garment
Fall protection: 3M™ DBI-SALA® ExoFit™ XE Series
Gloves: Ansell Inteliforz
Respiratory : BLS Narvalo Active Shield
Transforming leather PPE into organic fertilizer
IT : Keep Control
IT : PPE Analytics
Poster presentations
Reduction of the amount of flame retardants used for fire protection textiles through a bio-based finish using anchor peptides
Protective gloves against chemotherapy drugs
Gloves and face masks. Dual use products
Eye protection from solar radiation
Session 7 : IT solutions for PPE=> 3rd round of 3 parallel sessions
Use of IoT technologies in PPE - Guidance on the integration of IoT components into PPE aimed to their management and use (standard UNI 11 858) - Maria Rosaria Fizzano, Inail
How to synchronize PPE product data between manufacturers, dealers and end users IT systems - Florent Bretey, PPE Analytics
Use case : How the KEEP CONTROL solution simplifies the tracking and management of PPE and equipment subject to inspection - Rémy Prud’Homme, Smart Digital Services
Session 8 : adequate and suitable selection and use of PPE => 3rd round of 3 parallel sessions
Sun protective clothing (UV radiation) - Silvia Torres Ruiz, INSST-CNMP
Female Personal Protective Clothing - Ivan Deceuninck, Sioen
dual use (e.g. PPE - military) - experience companies - Laurence Mathieu - Synamap
Session 9 : sustainability : eco-design / materials / social responsibility / logistics => 3rd round of 3 parallel sessions
Sustainability in standardisation of PPE - Edith Classen, Hohenstein / CEN-CENELEC Sector Forum PPE (TG sustainability)
Sustainability and protective wear : suppliers point of view, tbc, HB Protective Wear/ETSA WG PPE
How is EU Green Deal legislation impacting PPE industry : opportunities and challenges -
Lucia Medori, 3M / chair ESF working group Sustainability
Summaries of the parallel sessions day 2
Moderators of the parallel sessions
Opportunities and Disruptions in the U.S. PPE Market
Cam Mackey, ISEA, President & CEO
In this session, ISEA’s Cam Mackey will show how 3 trends are having an outsize impact on the U.S. safety equipment and PPE industry, including:
- Innovation & Technology – How technology is impacting the production, selling & use of PPE (e.g. e-commerce, buyer journey, connected worker, B2C expectations, counterfeit identification)
- Sustainability – What changes we’re seeing in the underlying market/consumer/regulatory drivers and which business practices manufacturers are employing
- Compliance Complexity – Increasing burden on global firms to comply with multiple product & packaging standards, ESG requirements, regulations, laws, etc. We’ll also highlight important regulatory trends in the U.S.
Sustainability, Megatrends and Technology to Guide growth for the PPE Industry
Speaker : Sanjiv Bhaskar, Frost&Sullivan, Vice President of Research – Chemicals, Materials & Nutrition
Summary :
- Global Snapshot of the PPE Industry
- Sustainability
- Trends by Industry - also Exoskeletons, Vending for PPE
- She economy
- Connectivity

Programming Committee
We would like to thank the members of the Programming Committee for their valuable support in setting up this program
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Pilar Cáceres Armendáriz
Director CNMP
Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, Centro Nacional de Medios de Protección (CNMP), Spain
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Dr. Edith Classen
Scientific Affairs Manager, Head of standardization organization and representation of Hohenstein in the standardization
Hohenstein Institute, Germany
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Dott.ssa Maria Rosaria Fizzano
Central advisory department for health and safety
INAIL- National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work, Italy
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Claudio Galbiati
President of Assosistema Safety
Assosistema, Italy
Also Treasurer of European Safety Federation (till 04/2023)
and EMEA Regulatory and Standard Development Affairs at 3M Personal Safety Division
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Rahel Krause
Head of PPE coordination group at ITA
M.Sc., Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, Germany
department Fabric Production, woven fabrics, Scientific assistant,
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Alan Murray
CEO BSIF
BSIF, UK
Also President European Safety Federation (till 04/2023)