Personal Protective Equipment
Designated HAZMAT team members and hazardous materials specialists must provide the appropriate protective clothing and other necessary equipment.
Employers must ensure that HAZWOPER is followed per 29 CFR 1910.120(g)(5), Personal Protective Equipment Program, which covers the requirements for PPE selection, and totally-encapsulating chemical protective suits.
Chemical-protective Clothing
Chemical-protective clothing ranges from items such as gloves and face shields to totally-encapsulating chemical-protective suits and provides four levels of protection (see HAZWOPER 1910.120 Appendix A and B for details). This part of the emergency-response plan ensures that employees are protected from chemical, physical, or biological hazards during emergency-response operations. If your employees use chemical-protective clothing, your emergency-response plan must ensure the following:
- Clothing is selected to protect employees against site-specific hazards.
- Employees maintain and store the equipment properly.
- Employees understand the equipment's limitations.
- The equipment is decontaminated or disposed of properly.
- Employees are trained to use, wear, and inspect the equipment.
- The equipment fits employees who use it.
Employees who may be exposed to substances that could cause immediate death, serious illness, or injury must wear totally-encapsulating chemical-protective suits. The suits must provide the following level-A protection:
- positive pressure, full-facepiece self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) or positive-pressure supplied-air respirator with escape SCBA approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
- chemically resistant gloves
- chemically resistant boots with steel toe and shank
- disposable protective suit
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10-8. Employees who may be exposed to substances that could cause immediate death, serious illness, or injury _____.
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