PPB January 2021

suppliers were also among those new sources, turning to PPE not only to save their businesses, but to help their country in its time of need. PPE represented a new and literal lifeline—a call to action that put the promo industry’s sourcing and manufacturing capabilities to work in arming the world with products needed to protect against the virus. While the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented demand for PPE, especially in the health-care industry, other industries were also adding to the demand. According to Grand View Research, the global personal protective equipment market size was valued at $59.1 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 9.6 percent from 2020 to 2027. Mandated occupational safety regulations, along with the increasing importance of safety and security at workplaces, are anticipated to drive growth in this market. The manufacturing and construction industry led the PPE market and accounted for 17.4 percent of the global revenue share in 2019. PPE used in the manufacturing industry includes gloves, protective clothing, safety helmets, masks, protective footwear and goggles, and ear protection. The rising workforce in the manufacturing industry, especially in the Asia Pacific region, will likely trigger more product demand to safeguard employees working in conditions ripe with hazards such as falls, explosions and fires, and machine hazards and help businesses avoid overhead costs, such as compensations. When COVID-19 cases and social distancing measures ramped up last spring, the market for PPE products, including masks, hand sanitizer, protective clothing and gloves, expanded massively. From schools to restaurants, every industry supplied PPE to their employees to protect them from the outbreak of COVID-19. Hospitals, first- responders and essential businesses, like grocery stores that remained open, were facing critical shortages of face masks, face shields, isolation gowns and other such products amid the pandemic. While these shortages have somewhat abated, many health-care organizations are still concerned with maintaining their supply while cases continue to spike as the country heads toward a second wave of the pandemic. In places like Lake County, Ohio, where one out of 100 people tested positive for the disease in November 2020, which is 10 times the positivity rate that the CDC defines as “high incidence,” hospitals are rushing to obtain other necessary medical items such as ventilators and respirators for critically ill patients. The need for PPE will not disappear as quickly as the pandemic began. Through PPE, distributors and suppliers can help keep the industry afloat, end users safe and clients busy. | JANUARY 2021 | 33 GROW