Personal Protective Equipment

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 1

ation
 Protecting Employees from
Workplace Hazards
• Employers must protect employees from workplace
hazards such as machines, hazardous substances,
and dangerous work procedures that can cause injury
• Employers must:
 Use all feasible engineering and work practice
controls to eliminate and reduce hazards
 Then use appropriate personal protective
equipment (PPE) if these controls do not eliminate
the hazards.
• Remember, PPE is the last level of control!

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 2

ation
 Payment for PPE
When PPE is required to protect employees, it must
be provided by the employer at no cost to
employees, except for specific items, such as:
• Safety-toe footwear,
• Prescription safety eyewear,
• Everyday clothing and weather-related gear, and
• Logging boots

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 3

ation
 Engineering Controls
If . . .
The machine or work environment can be physically
changed to prevent employee exposure to the
potential hazard,

Then . . .
The hazard can be eliminated with an engineering
control.

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 4

ation
Engineering Controls (cont’d)
Examples . . .
• Initial design specifications
• Substitute less harmful material
• Change process
• Enclose process
• Isolate process
• Ventilation

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 5

ation
 Work Practice Controls
If . . .
Employees can be removed from exposure to the
potential hazard by changing the way they do their
jobs,

Then . . .
The hazard can be eliminated with a work practice
control.

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 6

ation
Work Practice Controls (cont’d)
Examples . . .
• Use of wet methods to suppress dust
• Personal hygiene
• Housekeeping and maintenance
• Job rotation of workers

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 7

ation
 Examples of PPE

• Eye - safety glasses, goggles

• Face - face shields
• Head - hard hats
• Feet - safety shoes
• Hands and arms - gloves
• Bodies - vests
• Hearing - earplugs, earmuffs

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 8

ation
 Establishing a PPE Program
• Sets out procedures for selecting, providing
and using PPE as part of an employer’s
routine operation
• First -- assess the workplace to determine if
hazards are present, or are likely to be
present, which necessitate the use of PPE
• Once the proper PPE has been selected, the
employer must provide training to each
employee who is required to use PPE

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 9

ation
 Training
Employees required to use PPE must be
trained to know at least the following:
• When PPE is necessary
• What type of PPE is necessary
• How to properly put on, take off, adjust, and wear
• Limitations of the PPE
• Proper care, maintenance, useful life and disposal

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 10

ation
Eye Protection

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 11

ation
 What are some of the
causes of eye injuries?
• Dust and other flying particles, such as metal
shavings or sawdust
• Molten metal that might splash
• Acids and other caustic liquid chemicals that might
splash
• Blood and other potentially infectious body fluids
that might splash, spray, or splatter
• Intense light such as that created by welding and
lasers

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 12

ation
 Safety Spectacles
• Made with metal/plastic safety frames
• Most operations require side shields
• Used for moderate impact from particles produced by
such jobs as carpentry, woodworking, grinding, and
scaling

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 13

ation
 Goggles
• Protect eyes, eye sockets, and the facial area
immediately surrounding the eyes from impact,
dust, and splashes
• Some goggles fit over corrective lenses

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 14

ation
 Welding Shields
Protect eyes from burns caused by infrared or
intense radiant light, and protect face and eyes
from flying sparks, metal spatter, and slag chips
produced during welding, brazing, soldering, and
cutting

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 15

ation
 Laser Safety Goggles
Protect eyes from intense concentrations of light
produced by lasers.

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 16

ation
 Face Shields
• Protect the face from nuisance dusts and
potential splashes or sprays of hazardous liquids
• Do not protect employees from impact hazards

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 17

ation
Head Protection

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 18

ation
 What are some of the
causes of head injuries?
• Falling objects
• Bumping head against fixed objects, such
as exposed pipes or beams
• Contact with exposed electrical conductors

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 19

ation
 Classes of Hard Hats
Class G (formerly Class A)1
• General service (e.g., mining, building construction,
shipbuilding, lumbering, and manufacturing)
• Good impact protection but limited voltage protection
Class E (formerly Class B)1
• Electrical work
• Protect against falling objects, high-voltage shock/burns
Class C
• Designed for comfort, offer limited protection
• Protects heads that may bump against fixed objects, but
do not protect against falling objects or electrical shock

1
Per ANSI Z89.1-1997
OSHA Office of Training and Educ 20
ation
Hearing Protection

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 21

ation
Examples of Hearing Protectors

Earmuffs Earplugs Canal Caps

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 22

ation
Foot Protection

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 23

ation
 What are some of the
causes of foot injuries?
• Heavy objects such as barrels or tools that might roll
onto or fall on employees’ feet
• Sharp objects such as nails or spikes that might pierce
the soles or uppers of ordinary shoes
• Molten metal that might splash on feet
• Hot or wet surfaces
• Slippery surfaces

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 24

ation
 Safety Shoes
• Have impact-resistant toes and
heat-resistant soles that protect
against hot surfaces common in
roofing, paving, and hot metal
industries
• Some have metal insoles to
protect against puncture wounds
• May be designed to be
electrically conductive for use in
explosive atmospheres, or
nonconductive to protect from
workplace electrical hazards
OSHA Office of Training and Educ 25
ation
 Metatarsal Guards
A part of the shoes or strapped to the outside
of shoes to protect the instep from impact and
compression

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 26

ation
Hand Protection

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 27

ation
What are some of the hand injuries
you need to guard against?
• Burns
• Bruises
• Abrasions
• Cuts
• Punctures
• Fractures
• Amputations
• Chemical Exposures

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 28

ation
 Types of Gloves
Norfoil laminate resists
permeation and
breakthrough by an array of
toxic/hazardous chemicals.

Butyl provides the highest

permeation resistance to gas
or water vapors; frequently
used for ketones (M.E.K.,
Acetone) and esters (Amyl
Acetate, Ethyl Acetate).
OSHA Office of Training and Educ 29
ation
 Types of Gloves (cont’d)
Viton is highly resistant to
permeation by chlorinated and
aromatic solvents.

Nitrile provides protection

against a wide variety of
solvents, harsh chemicals, fats
and petroleum products and
also provides excellent
resistance to cuts, snags,
punctures and abrasions.
OSHA Office of Training and Educ 30
ation
 Types of Gloves (cont’d)
Kevlar protects against
cuts, slashes, and abrasion.

Stainless steel mesh

protects against cuts and
lacerations.

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 31

ation
Body Protection

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 32

ation
 What are some of the
causes of body injuries?
• Intense heat
• Splashes of hot metals and other hot liquids
• Impacts from tools, machinery, and materials
• Cuts
• Hazardous chemicals
• Contact with potentially infectious materials, like
blood
• Radiation

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 33

ation
 Body Protection
Cooling
Vest Sleeves and Apron

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 34

ation
 Body Protection

Full Body Suit

Coveralls

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 35

ation
 Summary
Employers must implement a PPE program where they:
• Assess the workplace for hazards
• Use engineering and work practice controls to eliminate or
reduce hazards before using PPE
• Select and provide appropriate PPE at no cost* to
employees to protect them from hazards that cannot be
eliminated
• Inform employees why the PPE is necessary and when it
must be worn
• Train employees how to use and care for their PPE and
how to recognize deterioration and failure
• Require employees to wear selected PPE in the workplace

*See 72 FR 64341, Nov. 5, 2007 for exceptions

OSHA Office of Training and Educ 36
ation