On 13-16 December 2016, the annual international exhibition “Safety and Security” was held in Moscow. Segment of workwear and personal protective equipment (PPE) was one of the most important and interesting areas of the exhibition.
Russia is one of the world’s largest consumers of workwear and personal protective equipment as a country with a fairly well-developed industry. So, consulting agency Grand View Research put RF with the result of 2.02 billion USD to the fourth place in the world by PPE market volume in 2015. Above there were just United States, China and Germany. However, it is worth noting that there are different estimates of this figure in Russia, which differ quite a large spread – from 115 to 180 billion rubles. Perhaps this fact is connected with the lack of sufficient high-quality market analysts in this segment of what market participants declare. However, analysts and market participants agree that the segment of special clothing and personal protective equipment is quite promising line of business, each year showing growth. Thus, according to Rosstat, this segment showed an increase of 8% in 2015. Further growth is predicted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. According to Victor Evtuhov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, in January-October 2016 production of special clothing increased by 33%, and by 2025 the market volume could reach 200 billion rubles.
High growth rates are due to policy of import substitution. Now a significant portion of special clothing is made from foreign materials. A large share of imported products accounted for US and England. In order to change this situation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade included in the import substitution plan in light industry 14 projects aimed at the development and production of fabrics for clothing, special clothes and special shoes. These measures have already yielded positive results – in 2016, oil and gas companies by 90% were provided with special clothing and personal protective equipment from Russia. Furthermore, the growth of the market of special clothing will be contributed to strengthening of labor standards and increased staffing of special clothing. For example, it is spent annually 350-400 USD in Europe to provide an employee, and while in Russia – 100 USD (in the oil and gas sector – 350 USD).
Work is also ongoing to bring the Technical Regulation “On safety of personal protective equipment” in a more understandable view for manufacturers, certification authorities and testing laboratories. It is expected that it will be made more than 200 changes and refinements that make the clothing safer, and its production and certification – simpler.
