OSHA FACTSHEET PPE

1 Yo u mu st also train worke rs wh o are requi red towe ar personal prote ctiv e equip ment on how todo the follow ing: Use pr otec tive equ ipme nt pro perly, Be aware of when pe rson al pr otecti ve equip -men t is nece ssa ry , Know what ki nd of pr otective equi pm ent isnec essa ry, Under st and the limit ations of persona l protec-tiv e eq uipment in prote ct ing work ers frominj ury, Put on, adjust , wear, an d ta ke off pe rso nal pro -tec tiv e equipment, an d Ma intai n prot ecti ve equip men t ec tion fro m He ad Inju ri esHar d hat s can protect yo ur worke rs fromhea dimp act, penetration injur ies, and electricalin jur ies su ch as those cau se d by fal ling orfl yin g object s, fixed object s.

2 Or co nta ct withel ec tr ica l co nd uct ors. Al so , OSHA regulati onsre qui re emp lo yers to ensu re that workerscov er and prote ct long hai r to prevent it fromge tting ca ugh t in ma ch in e parts suchas bel tsan d ch ai ec tion fro m Foo t and Leg Inj uri esIn addi tio n to foo t gua rds and sa fet y sho es,leggi ngs ( ., lea the r, al um iniz ed ra yon , orot he rapp rop riat e ma teria l) can hel p preventinjur ies by pro tec tin g work ers fr om haz ard ssuc h as fa lli ng or ro lli ng obj ect s, shar p objec ts,we t and slip per y sur fac es , mol ten metals , ho tsurf ace s, and ele ctr ic al haz ec tion fro m Eye and Face Inju ri esBe si de s sp ect acl es and gogg les, pe rsonalpr otec tiv e eq uipment suchas spec ial hel met sor shi elds , spe cta cl es wi th side shiel ds , andfa ce sh ie lds ca n protect worke rs from the haz -ar ds of flying fra gme nts , lar ge ch ips, hot sparks.

3 Empl oye r Resp on sibilit iesOSHA sprimarype rs onal prote ctiveequip-men t standar ds are in Ti tl e 29 of the CodeofFed era l Regulat io ns (C FR) , Par t 1910 SubpartI,and equi va le nt regu latio ns in st ates with OSHA-approved sta te pl ans, but yo u ca n fi nd protec-ti ve equ ip ment require mentselse wherein theGen er al Ind ust ry example,29CF R 19 ,OS HA s Fire Brig adesSta ndard,has re quire me nt s for fir efig ht ing gea r. In addi -tion, 29 CF R 1926 .95-106covers the co nstr uc -tion industry. OS HA s gener al perso nal protec-tive equi pme nt req uir ements ma ndatetha temp loy ers con du ct a haza rd assessmentofthei r work pl aces to det ermine wha t hazardsare pr esent th at requirethe use of prot ectiveequi pme nt, pr ov id e wo rkerswit h appr opriatepro tec tiv e eq uip ment , an d req uire th em to useand mainta in it in sanitary and reliab le personal pr otect ive equ ipmentis oftenesse nti al, bu t it is ge ne ral ly the la st li ne ofdefe nse after en gineer in g co ntro ls, work prac -tices , and ad min is trat ive co nt rol s.

4 En gineeringcontrols inv ol ve ph ys ical ly ch ang ing a machineor workenvi ron men t. Ad ministrativ e controlsinv ol ve chan gin g how or whenworkersdothei r jobs, suc h as schedulin g wor k an d rotat -ing workers to red uce exposures. Wo rk prac -tices invol ve tr ai ning wo rker s ho w to performtasksin wa ys that redu ce th eir exp osuretowor kpl ac e haz ar an emp lo yer, you mustasse ss yourwork -pl ace to det ermineif haza rds are presentthat req uir e th e use of pe rsonal protectiveequi pme nt . If su ch haza rds are pre sent,youmust selec t prot ec tive equ ipment and requireworker s to use it, communicate your pr otectiveequi pme nt sele ct ion de cisi ons to your workers,and selectper sonal pro tective eq uip me nt thatproperly fits you r na l Pro te ctiv e EquipmentPersonalprote cti ve eq uipment, or PPE, is designed to pro tect work ers fromserio uswo rkpla ce inj ur ie s or il lne sse s resulting fromcontactwith ch emic al, radio logical, physi -cal, el ec tric al , mechani ca l, or otherworkplac e haz ar ds.

5 Besi des face shields, safetyglasse s, har d hats,and sa fe ty shoes,protective equ ip men t in cl udes a varietyof de vicesand gar me nt s such as goggles, coveralls,glo ves, vest s, earp lu gs , and respi s is one in a se rie s of inf orm at iona l fact shee ts highlightingOSHA programs, policies orsta ndar ds. It doesnot im posean y newcom pliancerequirements. For a comprehensivelist ofcompliancerequirementsof OSHA standards or regulations,refe r to Tit le 29 of the Codeof FederalRe gula s informationwill be ma de available to sensoryim pa ire d individua ls voi ce ph one is (20 2) 693- 19 99; teletypewriter(TTY)number:(877) De pa rtmen t of gov(800 ) 32 1-O SHAFo r mo re comp let e inf orm ation :DOC 4/2 00 6optic al ra dia ti on, splashesfrommoltenmetals,as we ll as obj ec ts, particles,sand,dirt, mists,dusts, and gla te cti on fr om He ar in g LossWea ring ea rplugsor ear mu ff s can help pr eventdamage to hear ing.

6 Exposureto high noisele vel s ca n ca us e irreversible hea ring lo ss orimpa irme nt as we ll as ph ysicaland psychologi-ca l stre ss . Ea rplugsmad e from foa m, waxedcotton,or fi bergl ass woo l are se lf- for mi ng andusua ll y fi t we ll. A professional sh ou ld fit yourwor ke rs indi vidually for mold ed or pr eformedearplugs. Cle an earplugs re gul ar ly, and replacethoseyou ca nnot cl ea te cti on fr om Ha nd Inj urie sWork ers expo sed to harmfulsubstancesthroughskin absor pt ion , seve re cuts or la cerations,seve re abrasio ns, che mica l burns,the rmalburn s, an d har mf ul temperaturee xtremeswillben efit fr om hand te cti on fr om BodyInjuryIn som e cas es workersmustsh ield mostor allof the ir bod ies againsthaza rds in the work -place , suc h as exposure to heat and ra dia tion aswell as hot metal s, sc aldin g liqu ids, bod y fluid s,hazardousmateri als or waste.

7 An d oth er haz -ards . In additionto fir e-r etar dan t woo l and fir -eretardant cotton,mat er ia ls usedin whole-bodypers onal protective equ ipment includ e ru bber,leather, sy nthetics, and en to Wea r Resp ira to ry Pro te cti onWh en en gin eering contro ls ar e not fea sible,wo rker s must use ap propr iat e res pi ra tors topr otec t ag ainst adv erse hea lth effects causedbybr ea thin g air conta min ated with harmfu l dusts,fo gs, fumes , mis ts, ga ses , smo kes, sprays,orvapo rs. Respi rat ors gen era lly cove r the noseand mou th or the enti re fa ce or head and helppr ev ent illness and injury . A proper fi t is essen-tial , ho weve r, fo r respirat ors to be effe ct ired respirat ors mu st be NI OSH-approvedand medic al eval uation an d trai ni ng mus t bepr ovi ded befo re use.

8 Ad di tio na l Info rma ti onFo r addition al info rma tion co ncer nin g protec-ti ve equipmen t view the publi cat ion, Assessingth e Ne ed for Per sonal Prote cti ve Equipment:AGuid e for Small Busines s Employers (OS HA3151 ) availa bl e on OSH A s we b sit e at ha . gov . For more infor mati on aboutpersonalpr otec tiv e eq uip ment in the constr uctionind us -tr y, vis it www .os ov/ SLT C/ construc-tio nppe/ inde ac ti ng OSHATo report an emer gen cy, file a compl ai nt or see kOSHAad vice, assi stance or products, call (800)321- OSHA or con tact your nea re st OSHA regi onal or area of fice.