PPE issue form in Turkey: recording personal protective equipment handover and renewal

The occupational safety specialist opens the file before an inspection: hard hats, safety shoes, earplugs, gloves. Which employee was given what, and when, is recorded in a stores ledger, in an Excel sheet or on a signature list nobody remembers. Has the glove that tore three months ago been replaced? Have the welder’s goggles been changed? Nobody is sure. When the question comes up in an inspection, the answer depends on the storekeeper’s memory. The problem is not missing equipment; it is that handover, service life and renewal go unrecorded. In this article we explain which fields belong on the form, the provisions on PPE handover that we read in Turkey’s PPE regulation, and how to track replacement dates.

A PPE issue form is the record showing which employee received which personal protective equipment used at the workplace, when, of what type and size, and when it is due for renewal, with the employee confirming receipt. Some workplaces call it a PPE assignment record or a PPE handover and receipt form; whatever the name, the job is the same: making handover and renewal demonstrable later.

PPE issue record template: which fields should the form have?

The table below is a starting template. You can add or remove fields to suit your sector and your risk assessment; the decision on equipment, however, comes from your workplace’s risk assessment, not from the form.

What does the Turkish regulation say about PPE handover?

We read and summarised the provisions below from the text of the Regulation on the Use of Personal Protective Equipment at Workplaces, published in Turkey’s Official Gazette. The article numbers refer to that text.

• The cost is not passed on to the employee (Article 6). PPE is provided by the employer without charging the employee; the regulation also lists maintenance, repair, periodic checks and replacement of parts within this framework. Article 4 of Law No. 6331 also states that the cost of occupational health and safety measures cannot be passed on to employees.
• Service life is set according to the risks (Article 6). Periods are determined taking into account the level of risk, the frequency of exposure, the characteristics of the workplace and the performance of the equipment. That is why you enter the replacement date on the form based on your own risk assessment.
• The employee is informed and trained (Article 6). The employer explains to the employee which risks the equipment protects against and ensures that hands-on training is provided.
• The risk assessment determines the choice (Article 7). The equipment to be used is determined according to the results of the risk assessment carried out.
• The employee’s part (Article 8). The employee uses the equipment correctly, looks after it and stores it in a suitable place, and reports any fault or deficiency to the employer. Faulty equipment is not used until the fault is fixed and is replaced with new equipment when necessary.
• About the form. The main text we read does not define any document by the name of an issue form, nor does it mention a signature requirement. Even so, keeping a handover record is useful for the employer to show that the obligations above have been met; agree the format of the document with your occupational safety specialist.

How do you track PPE replacement dates?

A completed form does not send a reminder by itself when the replacement date arrives. Setting up tracking in this order makes the job manageable:

1. Set the service life for each type of PPE according to the risk assessment and write it in a table.
2. Fill in the form at handover and immediately calculate and enter the planned replacement date.
3. Collect replacement dates in a single list by employee and department; sort the upcoming ones by date.
4. Attach an alert to the date: the person responsible should be notified weeks before the replacement.
5. When a replacement is made, record the return or disposal of the old equipment and the new handover in the same record.
6. If a fault, wear or loss is reported, do not wait for the period to end; open a replacement record straight away.
7. Compare upcoming replacements with warehouse stock; if stock will not be enough, order in advance.

Remember that tracking involves two separate streams of dates. The first is the time-based renewal date; it comes often for items that are used up quickly, such as gloves or earplugs, and less often for equipment such as hard hats. The second is event-based replacement: after a fall, chemical contact or breakage, equipment is replaced even if its service life has not ended. If your list only shows the first, define a separate reporting route for the second; for example, name one person and one channel through which employees report faults.

Common mistakes on issue forms

• The type of equipment is recorded as “gloves” without stating the risk; chemical and mechanical protection end up on the same line.
• Size information is forgotten; the equipment is handed over but not used because it does not fit, and nobody notes this on the form.
• The planned replacement date is left blank because it is unclear who sets the service life.
• Information and training stay on a separate record and are not linked to the handover form.
• Equipment returned by an employee who leaves is not entered on the form; in the records it still appears to be with them.
• The new item given to the same employee is written over the old one; the date of the previous handover is lost.

Most of these mistakes come not from a lack of knowledge but from the form not being kept in one place with one owner. Instead of copying the form separately in the warehouse, with the specialist and with the department head, choose a single source.

Paper and Excel for PPE tracking: when are they enough and when not?

In a single workplace with few employees, a paper form and an Excel sheet with columns for issue and replacement dates do the job. If you use date sorting and colour rules in the sheet, upcoming replacements become visible too. The problem starts as the number of teams and shifts grows: signed forms scatter across different folders, it becomes unclear who has the current Excel file, warehouse stock stays in a separate ledger and checking the dates becomes nobody’s fixed task. Equipment returned by employees who leave often goes unrecorded too.

How are assignment, stock and reminders used together in KurumsalPortal?

The Asset & Assignment Management module gives each asset a unique assignment number and keeps its owner, location and its assignment, return, transfer, fault and scrap movements on its card. You can track equipment issued to individuals with these cards. The receipt and issue of items consumed in bulk, such as gloves and earplugs, are recorded as movements in Inventory & Warehouse Management; items that fall to a critical level become visible. Which PPE is kept in which module is agreed with you during the needs analysis.

For the replacement date, the Reminder Module is used: you create the record, set the date and choose a recurrence rule. The module sends alerts 30, 7 and 1 day before the date by portal notification, e-mail and SMS; e-mail goes through the organisation’s own SMTP account and SMS through its own NetGSM account. Employees use it in their phone’s browser without installing an app. You can keep storing the signed paper form; the portal helps you track the movements and dates.

If you want to keep PPE handovers, returns and replacement dates in one record, you can look at the workflow on the Asset & Assignment Management page.