Personal Protective Equipment
What is Required?
OSHA requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels. Employers are required to determine if PPE should be used to protect their workers and have an obligation to provide PPE, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, and protective clothing and barriers. Employers must also make sure employees use and maintain PPE in a sanitary and reliable condition.
What is proper use?
Personal Protective Equipment must be worn and used in a manner that will make full use of its protective qualities. Personal protective equipment used incorrectly potentially exposes an employee to hazards, defeating the idea behind using PPE.
Low rates of compliance in wearing PPE usually indicate the safety management system is failing in some way.
When employees don't wear or use PPE correctly, it is usually because the employer:
- does not provide quality PPE;
- does not properly supervise the use of PPE;
- fails to enforce the use of PPE; or
- does not properly train employees on the use of PPE.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
4-1. Who is responsible for determining if PPE should be used for protection?
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