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refresher training when there are changes in types of PPE to be used, inadequacies in employees knowledge, or training is obsolete.
Safe Work Practices
General Requirements
- Conduct a hazard assessment to identify PPE needs based on workplace exposures and hazards.
- Follow hierarchy of controls.
- 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.