PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT

by Greg Summerhays

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is designed to protect employees from serious workplace injuries. As an employer, you must perform a hazard assessment of your workplace to determine if hazards are, or are likely to be, present that require the use of PPE. You should not rely on the use of PPE alone to provide protection against these hazards. Engineering controls and/or sound manufacturing practices must first be utilized to eliminate the hazard.

When PPE is necessary, you must:
- Select, provide and require the appropriate PPE for each affected employee.
- Instruct employees in the proper use of PPE.
- Communicate PPE selection decisions to each affected employee.
- Select and provide PPE that properly fits each affected employee.

Examples of required equipment to be provided by the employer include welding or wire mesh gloves, respirators, hard hats, specialty glasses and goggles, specialty foot protection such as metatarsal shoes and lineman's boots with built-in gaffs, face shields, rubber gloves, blankets, cover-ups, and hot sticks and other live-line tools. In the past, there has been confusion concerning whether employers or employees must pay for the required PPE. OSHA has made it clear that failure of an employer to pay for PPE that is not commonly used by the employee away from the job is a violation.

Examples of PPE that may be provided by employees include non-specialty safety glasses, safety shoes, and cold weather outerwear such as that worn by construction workers. However, the employer must pay for shoes or outerwear that cannot be safely worn off site due to contamination by carcinogens, or toxic or hazardous substances.

A hazard assessment to assess the need for PPE or a survey of the workplace must be conducted. The purpose of the survey is to identify the sources of hazards to employees. Injury and accident data (OSHA logs, first aid logs, and workers compensation injuries) should also be reviewed to help identify problem areas. Consideration should be given to each hazard category and the potential source of the hazard.

Basic hazard categories include:
- Impact - head, eye or foot.
- Penetration - foot, hand or body.
- Compression (roll-over) - foot or body.
- Chemical - splashes to eyes, face or body, and exposures to hands and arms.
- Heat - burns to skin or eyes.
- Harmful dust - eye or lung damage.
- Light (optical) radiation - eye or face burns.

PPE Determination
- Identify the potential hazards and the type of PPE that is available and what protection it provides.
- Compare the capabilities of various types of PPE with the hazards associated with the environment.
- Select PPE that provides a level of protection greater than the minimum requirements.
- Select PPE that will properly fit each employee. Employee Training  

OSHA provides the following tips on training your employees on how to properly use PPE.
 At a minimum, each employee must know:
- When and what PPE is necessary.
- Which PPE has been selected for each process.
- How to properly put on, wear, adjust and take off PPE.
- What the limitations are of the PPE.
- When the PPE is defective and should no longer be used.
- How to replace defective PPE.
- How to care for, maintain, store and dispose of PPE.

In some cases workers must shield most or all of their bodies against hazards in the workplace, such as exposure to heat and radiation as well as hot metals, scalding liquids, body fluids, hazardous materials or waste, and other hazards. Workers exposed to harmful substances through skin absorption, severe cuts or lacerations, severe abrasions, chemical burns, thermal burns, and harmful temperature extremes will benefit from hand protection.

Wearing earplugs or earmuffs can help prevent damage to hearing. Exposure to high noise levels can cause irreversible hearing loss or impairment as well as physical and psychological stress. Earplugs made from foam, waxed cotton, or fiberglass wool are self-forming and usually fit well. Clean earplugs regularly, and replace those you cannot clean.

Hard hats can protect your employees from head impact, penetration injuries, and electrical injuries such as those caused by falling or flying objects, fixed objects, or contact with electrical conductors. OSHA regulations require employers to ensure that workers cover and protect long hair to prevent it from getting caught in machine parts such as belts and chains.

In addition foot guards and safety shoes can help prevent injuries by protecting employees from hazards such as falling or rolling objects, sharp objects, wet and slippery surfaces, molten metals, hot surfaces and electrical hazards.  

Besides spectacles and goggles, PPE such as special helmets or shields, spectacles with side shields, and face shields can protect employees from the hazards of flying fragments, large chips, hot sparks, optical radiation, splashes from molten metals, as well as objects, particles, sand, dirt, mists, dusts, and glare.

When engineering controls are not feasible, workers must use appropriate respirators to protect against adverse health effects caused by breathing air contaminated with harmful dusts, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays, or vapors. Respirators generally cover the nose and mouth or the entire face or head and help prevent illness or injury. A proper fit is essential, however, for respirators to be effective.

Employees must be retrained whenever:
- Workplace and type of PPE changes render the previous training obsolete.
- You observe inadequacies in an employee's knowledge or use of PPE.

Greg Summerhays is Director of Public Relations and Community Outreach at Workers Compensation Fund. WCF offers ongoing safety training and UMA members are eligible for a 5% premium discount through a partnership with WCF. Visit www.wcfgroup.com for more information.