This week, Mexican Official Standard NOM-017-STPS-2024, Personal Protective Equipment – Selection, Use, and Handling in Workplaces, was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on March 28, 2025, which replaces NOM-101-STPS-1994 and the previous version of NOM-017 from 2008 published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.
Key changes in this new NOM include:
- The obligation for companies to classify risks by position and area;
- Implementation of decontamination protocols;
- Proper management of obsolete Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and proceeding with its destruction or confinement;
- Ensuring PPE certification;
- Extending obligations to specialized service workers and visitors.
The relevance to the mining sector stems from its specific conditions, which make compliance with this NOM particularly critical, leading companies to focus their attention on updating their safety programs/manuals/protocols/policies, ensuring the training of their personnel, and properly recording all personal protective equipment (PPE) life cycles and certification, ensuring that they comply with safety, quality, and performance standards. Consequently, the NOM seeks to encourage companies to strengthen their safety culture to reduce risks, avoid penalties, and, above all, protect their human capital.
It will be essential to provide work personnel with the ideal training and instruction to identify the protective equipment that companies must use according to the risk to which they are exposed due to the nature of their activities; as well as for the use, review, replacement, cleaning, limitations, maintenance, storage, and final disposal of PPE, based on the indications, instructions, or procedures for this purpose, as well as the recommendations of the manufacturer.
The correct implementation of NOM-017-STPS-2024 is not only a legal obligation, it is a strategic asset in a sector where safety and risk prevention are decisive for the operational continuity of the company. Those who begin to take action and strengthen their safety systems will have a competitive advantage in audits, labor relations, and corporate reputation.
Associate
