Personal Protective Equipment

Personal Protective Equipment

PPE is worn to protect employees from exposures to chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, and other workplace hazards. It includes items such as hard hats, gloves, goggles, safety shoes, safety glasses, electrical protective equipment, welding helmets and goggles, face shields, chemical protective equipment and fall protection equipment. 

Many OSHA standards require employers to pay for and provide personal protective equipment when it's necessary to protect employees from job-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. 

Exceptions: Non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or boots, logging boots) and non-specialty prescription safety eyewear provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job site; items such as hair nets and gloves worn by food workers for consumer safety; everyday clothing, such as long-sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes, and normal work boots; ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other items, used solely for protection from weather; and when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE and it must be replaced.

Training Requirements

  • When PPE is necessary.
  • What kind of PPE is necessary.
  • How to properly put it on, adjust, wear and take off PPE.
  • The limitations of the equipment.
  • Proper care, maintenance, useful life, and disposal of the equipment.
  • Employees should be able to demonstrate understanding of the training.
  • Training should be provided initially.
  • Provide refresher training when there are changes in types of PPE to be used, inadequacies in employees knowledge, or training is obsolete.    

PPE Presentation

Provides a presentation on PPE for general industry.

PPE Presentation

Provides a presentation on PPE for construction.

Safe Work Practices

General Requirements

  • Conduct a hazard assessment to identify PPE needs based on workplace exposures and hazards.
  • Follow hierarchy of controls; elimination, isolation, engineering controls, work practice controls, administrative controls, and then PPE.
  • Employees are to be provided with the necessary PPE required for their job.
  • Maintain PPE in a clean and reliable fashion.
  • Inspect PPE before and after use.
  • Ensure PPE fits comfortably and is appropriate for the hazards.
  • Communicate selected PPE to employees.
  • Ensure employees are using and wearing the PPE properly.
  • Provide training to all employees.

Eye and Face Protection

  • Appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation.
  • Eye protection that provides side protection should be used when there is a hazard from flying objects.
  • Eye and face PPE shall be distinctly marked to facilitate identification of the manufacturer.
  • Provide eye protection that incorporates eye prescriptions in its eye protection design, or provide eye protection that can be worn over the prescription lenses without disturbing the proper position of the prescription lenses or the protective lenses.
  • Provide filter lenses that have a shade number appropriate for the work being performed for protection from injurious light radiation.

Head Protection

  • Ensure employees wear a protective helmet when working in areas where there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects.
  • The protective helmet designed to reduce electrical shock hazard is worn by each such affected employee when near exposed electrical conductors which could contact the head.

Foot Protection

  • Ensure employee use protective footwear when working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries due to falling or rolling objects, or objects piercing the sole, or when the use of protective footwear will protect the affected employee from an electrical hazard, such as a static-discharge or electric-shock hazard, that remains after the employer takes other necessary protective measures.

Hand Protection

  • Ensure employees use appropriate hand protection when employees' hands are exposed to hazards such as those from skin absorption of harmful substances; severe cuts or lacerations; severe abrasions; punctures; chemical burns; thermal burns; and harmful temperature extremes.
  • The selection should be base on an evaluation of the performance characteristics of the hand protection relative to the task(s) to be performed, conditions present, duration of use, and the hazards and potential hazards identified.

Electrical Protective Equipment

Rubber insulating blankets, rubber insulating matting, rubber insulating covers, rubber insulating line hose, rubber insulating gloves, and rubber insulating sleeves shall meet the following requirements:

  • Should be clearly marked by the manufacture for each rubber insulating equipment.
  • Equipment should be proof tested and indicate that it can withstand the voltage involved.
  • Equipment shall be free of physical irregularities that can adversely affect the insulating properties of the equipment and that can be detected by tests and inspections.
  • Protective equipment used for the primary insulation of employees from energized circuit parts shall be capable of passing a current test when subjected to the highest nominal voltage on which the equipment is to be used.
  • Electrical protective equipment shall be maintained in a safe, reliable condition.

Hearing Protection

  • Provide hearing protectors to all employees exposed to an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels or greater and at no cost to the employees.
  • Replace hearing protectors as necessary.
  • Provide training on the proper use of hearing protection.
  • Implement engineering controls and administrative controls to minimize noise exposures.
  • Implement a hearing conservation program when noise exposures are at 85 decibels or greater based on an 8-hour time-weighted average.
    • Provide annual audiograms.
    • Conduct exposure monitoring.
    • Provide initial and annual training to employees.
    • Maintain records.

Respirators

  • Implement feasible engineering controls and administrative controls to reduce exposures to airborne contaminants.
  • Follow hierarchy of controls whenever possible.
  • Provide respirators when they are necessary to protect the health of the employee when exposed to airborne contaminants.
  • Implement a respirator program when respirators are required due to exposure to contaminants.
    • Written program with work-site specific procedures.
    • Program administrator
    • Fit testing provided initially and annually
    • Initial and annual training
    • Medical evaluation and determination for an employee's ability to wear a respirator.
    • Cleaning and disinfecting
    • Maintenance and inspections
    • Proper storage

Voluntary Use: An employer may provide respirators at the request of employees or permit employees to use their own respirators, if the employer determines that such respirator use will not in itself create a hazard. If the employer determines that any voluntary respirator use is permissible, the employer shall provide the respirator users with the information contained in appendix D to this section ("Information for Employees Using Respirators When Not Required Under the Standard"); and establish and implement those elements of a written respiratory protection program necessary to ensure that any employee using a respirator voluntarily is medically able to use that respirator, and that the respirator is cleaned, stored, and maintained so that its use does not present a health hazard to the user. Exception: Employers are not required to include in a written respiratory protection program those employees whose only use of respirators involves the voluntary use of filtering facepieces (dust masks).

Fall Protection

  • Fall protection should be provided to each employee exposed to fall hazards.
  • Fall protection equipment needs to be inspected before each use and maintained as needed.
  • Before any employee is exposed to a fall hazard, they must be provided training on personal fall protection systems.
  • Lifelines, safety belts, and lanyards are to be used only for employee safeguarding.
  • Training should be provided by a qualified person.
    • Nature of the fall hazards in the work area and how to recognize them.
    • Procedures to be followed to minimize those hazards.
    • Correct procedures for installing, inspecting, operating, maintaining, and disassembling the personal fall protection systems that the employee uses.
    • Correct use of personal fall protection systems and equipment including, but not limited to, proper hook-up, anchoring, and tie-off techniques, and methods of equipment inspection and storage, as specified by the manufacturer.
  • Information and training needs to be provided to each employee in a manner that the employee understands.
  • Training should be provided initially and refresher training provided when it is obsolete, inadequacies in employee's knowledge, or after changes in the equipment being used.
  • Safety nets are to be provided when workplaces are more than 25 feet above the ground or water surface, or other surfaces where the use of ladders, scaffolds, catch platforms, temporary floors, safety lines, or safety belts is impractical.
  • Employees working over or near water, where the danger of drowning exists, are to be provided with U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket or buoyant work vests.

Reflective and Warning Garments

  • Flaggers should be provided with warning garments that conform to Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
  • Workers exposed to struck-by hazards should be provided with warning clothing such as reflective vests or other warning type of garments (reflective, orange, red).

Other Types of Protective Gear

Other protective gear may also be required based on the hazards and tasks such as coveralls, lab coats, shoe coverings, gowns, bullet proof vests and turnout gear.

  • The gear should be maintained and kept clean.
  • Gear should fit the employee properly.
  • Damaged equipment should be taken out of service and replaced as needed.

PPE Resources

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