Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines personal protective equipment (PPE) as equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that may cause serious workplace injuries and illnesses. These injuries and illnesses result from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards. Personal protective equipment may include, but is not limited to, gloves, safety glasses, safety shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, respirators, dust masks, coveralls, vests, high visibility clothing, or specialized full body suits which prevent a worker from coming into contact with hazardous materials.
All PPE must be well-designed and constructed. It must be maintained in a clean and functional condition. It should fit comfortably, encouraging worker use. If the PPE does not fit properly, it can mean the difference between being adequately protected or dangerously exposed. When engineering, work practice, and administrative controls are not feasible or do not provide sufficient protection, employers must provide PPE to their workers and ensure its proper use. Employers are also required to train each worker required to use PPE. Each worker must be trained to know when PPE is necessary, what PPE is necessary, how to properly don, doff, adjust, and wear PPE, the limitations of the PPE and, the proper care, maintenance, useful life and disposal of the PPE at a minimum.
Personal protective equipment is addressed in specific OSHA standards for general industry, maritime, and construction. OSHA requires that many categories of PPE meet or be equivalent in quality and the protection level to the standards developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
LUC Hearing Protection Safety Guidelines
OSHA Fact Sheet, Fall Prevention
OSHA Fact Sheet, Personal Protective Equipment
OSHA Personal Protective Equipment Booklet
OSHA Training Library: Assessing the Need for Personal Protective Equipment
