Does "Subpart E - Personal Protection" Apply to You?

Are employees 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? If yes, then you must comply with the requirements in the standard on eye and face protection. The standard requires that the personal protection meet specific consensus standards, must be maintained in good condition, and that used eye protection equipment must be cleaned and disinfected before reissuance to another employee. 

It provides additional requirements for eye protection against radiant energy that can be found in the standard on welding, cutting and heating (hot work), paragraph (h) - protection against radiant energy. 

This standard also requires eye protection equipment must be of a type which can be worn over spectacles for employees that wear corrective spectacles. Prescription ground safety lenses may be substituted if they provide equivalent protection.

Additional information on PPE can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics pages for personal protective equipment, welding and cutting, and radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing.

This standard applies when breathing air is contaminated with harmful dusts, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays, or vapors which can cause occupational diseases. Do you have harmful air contaminants? Note: To answer this question, you may need to review safety data sheets, labels, conduct air monitoring, or gather other relevant data that can provide you with useful information regarding the hazards for the contaminant.

If the answer is yes, you may need to comply with the respiratory protection standard. Note: An employer should evaluate the use of engineering and administrative controls to minimize air contaminant exposures. If exposure levels are above the permissible exposure limits (PELs), (or in the absence of a PEL, another recommended level), then respirators must be provided and used in accordance with an effective respiratory protection program.

PELs, or Permissible Exposure Limits, are regulations that establish the acceptable amount or concentration of a substance in the air in the workplace. They are intended to protect workers from adverse health effects related to hazardous chemical exposure.

This standard applies to marine terminals (part 1917), as well as general industry (part 1910), shipyards (part 1915), longshoring (part 1918), and construction (part 1926).

Note: Voluntary Users of Respirators - (c)(2)(i); An employer may provide respirators at the request of employees or permit employees to use their own respirators, if the employer determines that respirator use will not in itself create a hazard. If the employer determines that voluntary respirator use is permissible, they shall provide the information contained in Appendix D to the employee. In addition, the employer must 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).

Additional related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics pages for respiratory protection, personal protective equipment, organic solvents, flammable liquids and hazard communication

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Are your employees exposed to work areas where there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects? If yes, then you need to comply with the head protection standard. It provides requirements pertaining to complying with specific consensus standards along with cleaning and disinfecting previously worn protective hats before issuance to another employee.

Additional information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics page for personal protective equipment.

Are employees working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries due to falling or rolling objects or objects piercing the sole? If yes, then you need to comply with the foot protection standard. It provides requirements pertaining to complying with specific consensus standards.

Additional information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics page for personal protective equipment.

Are employees' extremities exposed to hazardous substances? Are employees working on or near the water? Are employees exposed to hazardous substances?  If you answered yes to any of the questions, then you need to comply with the standard on other protective measures. This standard provides requirements pertaining to additional protective clothing (i.e., coveralls), personal flotation devices (i.e., life jackets), and providing employees with emergency facilities (i.e., emergency bathing, eye washing) when exposed to hazardous substances. 

Additional information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics pages for personal protective equipment and medical services and first aid.

Generally, this is a yes for the employer. The standard, payment for protective equipment, states that protective equipment including personal protective equipment (PPE) must be provided by the employer at no cost to the employee, however, there are some exceptions.

The employer must pay for replacement PPE, except when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE. Other exceptions include: 

• The employer is not required to pay for non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or steel-toe boots) and non-specialty prescription safety eyewear, provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job-site
• When the employer provides metatarsal guards and allows the employee, at his or her request, to use shoes or boots with built-in metatarsal protection, the employer is not required to reimburse the employee for the shoes or boots.
• The employer is not required to pay for:
  • Everyday clothing, such as long-sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes, and normal work boots; or
  • Ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other items, used solely for protection from weather, such as winter coats, jackets, gloves, parkas, rubber boots, hats, raincoats, ordinary sunglasses, and sunscreen.
• Where an employee provides adequate protective equipment he or she owns, the employer may allow the employee to use it and is not required to reimburse the employee for that equipment. 

Note: When the provisions of another OSHA standard specify whether or not the employer must pay for specific equipment, the payment provisions of that standard shall prevail.