Today we’re going to talk about the importance of personal protective equipment, or PPE, in preventing workplace injuries. We’ll begin with an overview of how hazard assessments are conducted and why specific types of PPE are selected. Even though you, as an employee, are not responsible for these procedures, you still need to be aware of when PPE is necessary and what type of equipment is appropriate.

Then we’ll focus on ways you can keep yourself safe on the job. We’ll discuss how to wear and care for PPE that may be assigned to you and go over limitations of each piece of equipment. Let’s get started.

Session Objectives

By the end of this training session, you will:

• Understand how your employer conducts a PPE hazard assessment, including how they evaluate the workplace and job functions for any potential hazards that can be controlled by using PPE;
• Understand why different types of PPE are selected and how they protect you against the hazards found during the hazards assessment; and
• Know how to properly wear and care for PPE.

Prequiz: How Much Do You Know?

Before we begin, let’s take a few minutes to see how much you already know about personal protective equipment. Decide whether each statement on the screen is true or false.

• Hazard assessments are conducted only for job functions that involve hazardous materials.
• Your employer is responsible for selecting PPE.
• PPE should be inspected before each use.
• It is not important to keep your PPE clean.

How did you do? Did you choose all the right answers?

Hazard Assessment

A hazard assessment is essential to understand the types of hazards employees, like you, might be exposed to. It is a requirement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that hazard assessments be performed before PPE is selected. Here is an overview of how a hazard assessment is conducted.

• First, your employer evaluates every job function in every department for potential hazards.
• If any hazards are found during their assessment, they record what the hazards are. Potential hazards in a work area include impact from objects or equipment, chemical exposure, heat, harmful dust, optical radiation, or falls.
• Then, they determine what part of the body each hazard is a risk to. In this session we’ll focus on the eyes and face, respiratory system, hands, feet, and head. • Finally, your employer determines what type of PPE will protect against the hazards that are found. For example, if there is an eye hazard present, they will determine if safety glasses are adequate or whether goggles are needed.

Eye and Face Assessment

Hazard assessments are conducted to protect each part of the body. Let’s start with the eyes and face.

• Your employer checks for exposure to flying particles such as dust from grinding, metal chips from machine shop equipment, or wood chips from a cabinet shop. Flying particles cause the majority of eye injuries in the workplace.
• Molten metal is a hazard if workers are exposed to metal that could splash up and damage the eyes or burn the face.
• Hazardous liquids are also a common eye and face hazard. Examples include aerosols, cleaning solutions, solvents for cleaning metal, spray adhesive, and spray paints; these might be splashed or sprayed into a worker’s face or eyes.

Eye and Face Assessment (cont.)

Here are some other eye and face hazards that are evaluated:

• Acid or caustic liquids are especially dangerous because they can do serious damage to the eyes and face. Examples include acids used for etching, caustic liquids used in a number of cleaning operations, and battery acid from electric power vehicles such as forklifts.
• Gases and vapors can also cause eye damage. For example, ammonia, which is used in some air-conditioning systems, can cause severe eye damage. Other vapors and gases can cause redness and irritation.
• Potentially injurious light radiation refers to bright light from welding and cutting operations, or from laser operations. Eyes can be severely damaged if you look directly at welding or laser operations without proper protection.

Respiratory Protection Hazard Assessment

Hazard assessments for respiratory protection evaluate the following conditions:

• Potential inhalation of airborne dusts, fumes, or similar particulates, which might come from grinding, cutting, sanding, or welding operations. Other dusts might come from wood chips, grain, or other solid granular materials.
• Another hazard is the inhalation of vapors or fumes, which can come from a wide variety of operations involving hazardous materials. A few examples include using solvents, spraying with aerosols, painting operations, and bulk handling, including loading or unloading of hazardous materials.
• Lack of adequate oxygen usually refers to jobs in confined spaces where there may not be enough oxygen to enter without respiratory protection.

Think about the kinds of jobs and operations in your workplace that require respiratory protection.

Respiratory Protection Hazard Assessment (cont.)

After the assessment has identified the potential respiratory hazards, your employer takes the following steps:

• First, they identify the specific sources of the respiratory hazard.
• Then, they review the work processes to determine where the exposure exists and the magnitude of the exposure.
• And finally, if necessary, they monitor the exposure to measure the degree of the hazard.

Hearing Hazard Assessment

To know if we are at risk of hearing loss, we must evaluate our noise exposure.

• The first step in evaluating our noise exposure is to conduct a noise survey. A noise survey will identify and characterize high-noise sources and identify employees who are impacted by high-noise levels.
• Next, the noise exposure of employees at risk is evaluated. Because employees move about during their workday, a noise dosimeter is typically used. The dosimeter records all the noise levels and computes the average noise exposure level for that particular employee. This information can be transferred to other employees who do similar jobs.
• Monitoring is repeated whenever a change in production, process, or equipment influences noise-level exposures.

Head Hazard Assessment

Now let’s move on to head hazards.

• Falling objects can be a major cause of head injuries. Some jobs expose workers to objects falling from above, such as workplaces with scaffolds and catwalks, where workers are above and below each other.
• Exposed electrical conductors may be a hazard, requiring the use of appropriate hard hats—those that do not conduct electricity.
• Finally, low-hanging obstructions present another head hazard, such as when a worker needs to walk or crawl under equipment to perform maintenance or cleaning.

These are the primary causes of head injuries.

Foot Hazard Assessment

A hazard assessment does not forget potential foot hazards. There are many possible hazards to the feet, including:

• Falling, rolling, or sharp objects that are dropped on feet by workers who handle heavy objects. In some workplaces, there may be exposure to heavy rolling objects such as large rolls of paper or forklift tires, which can crush someone’s foot. Another potential hazard is the presence of sharp objects that might pierce the sole of a worker’s shoe and foot.
• There may be electrical hazards in some workplaces that require the use of insulated footwear that contains no metal.
• Slippery walking surfaces may cause falls. While a fall might not injure the foot, slippery floors are considered a foot hazard because proper footwear is required to reduce the hazard.
• Hazardous materials could be a foot hazard if there is a possibility of them splashing on the feet or seeping in through the soles.
• Finally, cold weather conditions can be a foot hazard if there is the possibility of frostbite.

These are the primary types and causes of foot injuries.

Hand Hazard Assessment

A hand hazard assessment is very comprehensive, because there are so many different possible causes of hand injuries.

• Skin absorption of hazardous materials, which often occurs through the hands, can cause skin damage.
• Severe cuts and lacerations can result from working with machinery and equipment. These machines should have protective guarding, but you still need to know about the possible hazards. Cutting equipment such as saws and drills can cause severe injury if a hand is placed near the point of operation. Hand tools can cause cuts and punctures. Even metal straps or wires used for packaging can cause severe cuts if not handled carefully.
• Severe abrasions, including scrapes, tearing of the skin, and removal of the skin, are other possible hand injuries. They can occur when using items such as sanders, grinders, conveyor belts, rotating shafts, scrap metal, and broken glass. Once again, you should know how to protect yourself against these kinds of hazards.

Hand Hazard Assessment (cont.)

Other types of hand hazards include:

• Puncture wounds, which can result from a wide variety of tools and equipment such as drills, nail guns, and even screwdrivers. Slivers of metal or wood can also cause deep punctures that can become infected.
• Burns can be caused by handling acids, caustics, and many strong hazardous materials. Depending on the concentration of the corrosive, burns can be quite severe.
• Thermal burns—that is, burns from heat—can result from welding, cutting, and brazing operations. Steam equipment, such as a boiler, involve many extremely hot items such as pipes and tanks. Industrial ovens for baking, drying, or annealing present obvious thermal burn hazards.
• Finally, frostbite can result from working outside in frigid conditions or from working with cryogenic materials.

Clothing Assessment

Evaluating hazards includes an assessment to determine proper clothing. Here are some of the hazards that would require you to wear protective clothing:

• Hot or cold materials or objects can cause skin damage. If you work around steam lines or in other hot environments, or work in refrigerated areas or other cold environments, you probably need protective clothing and other equipment.
• If you work with hazardous materials, you may need to wear protective clothing, in addition to protective gloves, boots, and eyewear, to guard against splashes.
• Welding often requires wearing fire-resistant clothing to prevent being burned by sparks.
• If you work with heavy, sharp, or rough materials, you usually need to wear protective clothing to protect against cuts and abrasions on your body, arms, and legs.
• Finally, if you work around moving machinery you should be alert to the type of clothing you wear, since loose clothing may get caught in the moving parts.

Fall Hazard Assessment

Finally, if your hazard assessment finds that you and coworkers will be working in unprotected areas where you can fall 4 feet (ft) or more above a lower level, your employer needs to provide personal fall protection systems.

Fall hazards in the work environment include:

• Unprotected edges;
• Hoist areas;
• Holes and openings;
• Dockboard edges at loading docks
• Repair pits, service pits, and assembly pits less than 10 feet deep;
• Poorly positioned ladders;
• Scaffolds and rope descent systems; and
• Work on low-slope roofs.

Exercise

Now it’s time for an exercise. Read through the following statements and fill in the missing blanks.

Here are the answers:

1. Flying particles cause the majority of eye injuries in the workplace.
2. Lack of adequate oxygen is a respiratory hazard usually found in jobs in confined spaces.
3. A slippery floor is considered a foot hazard.
4. Loose clothing should not be worn while working around moving machinery.
5. Service pits and repair pits are considered fall hazards.

How did you do? Did you get all of the right answers or do you need to go back and review?

PPE Hazard Assessment – Any Questions?

At this point, be sure you understand:

• How your employer conducts a PPE hazard assessment
• How hazards are evaluated in regards to each part of the body

Selecting Eye and Face Protection

In this part of the session we’ll talk about how your employer selects the appropriate personal protective equipment for different hazards. We’ll also focus on how to properly wear and care for each piece of PPE. Let’s start with the different types of eye and face protection.

• Safety glasses with side protection are designed to protect against flying objects such as metal or wood chips.
• Goggles protect the eyes against flying objects and from floating dust, hazardous liquids, gases, and vapors.
• Face shields are needed to protect against splashes, hot slag, flying debris, and molten metals. The face shield that is selected should be specific to the hazard.
• Shaded filter lenses are worn to protect against potentially harmful light radiation, such as from welding operations or certain laser equipment.
• Prescription safety glasses may be appropriate if you need corrective eyewear. Wearing contact lenses is not recommended when exposed to such hazards as dust, hazardous liquids or vapors, and high temperatures.
• All approved eye and face protection must be marked “Z87,” meaning that it complies with the American National Standards Institute, or ANSI, standard for eye PPE.

Wear and Care of Eye Protection

If eye protection is required for your job function, it’s important that you wear and care for it properly. Here are some steps to follow:

• PPE for the eyes and face should always fit comfortably. Eyewear shouldn’t pinch your nose or put pressure on your head.
• Eyewear should not distort or block your vision. If you are experiencing dizziness or headaches from wearing eye protection, try another style or brand.
• Remember to put eyewear on before being exposed to a hazard. This may seem obvious, but many eye injuries occur each year because workers forget to put on their protective eyewear before starting a hazardous job.
• Keep protective eyewear clean by washing regularly with soap and water or with special cleaning products. Regular cleaning helps make sure that your vision is not blocked or blurred. If you are exposed to dust or hazardous liquids while wearing goggles, make sure to clean off the top rim of the goggles before removing them. This prevents dust or liquid from dripping or falling into the eyes when the PPE is removed.
• Dispose of protective eyewear if scratched or otherwise damaged because it may not fit correctly, may distort your vision, or provide inadequate protection.

Selecting Respiratory Protection

As with protective eyewear, there are different kinds of respiratory PPE that may be selected according to the kind of hazards involved.

• A filtering face piece, or dust mask, is worn to protect against inhaling dust. You may choose to wear a dust mask voluntarily if you are exposed to low levels of dust. However, if you are exposed to high levels of dust, or hazardous dust above permissible exposure limits, or PELs, you are required to wear a filtering face piece.
• Air purifying respirators—either full-face or half-face—are the most common type of respiratory protection. These respirators use a cartridge or filter to purify the air being breathed and provide protection against vapors and fumes. Air purifying respirators must be worn by workers when monitoring shows that PELs have been exceeded. At levels below the PEL, you may choose to wear a respirator.

– Cartridges for air purifying respirators are carefully chosen by your employer. No type of cartridge will filter out all possible contaminants, so the cartridge will be specific to the hazard. In addition, it’s important to know how long it takes for a hazardous material to “break through” the cartridge; this lets you know how often the cartridge must be replaced.

Selecting Respiratory Protection (cont.)

Here are some other types of respiratory protection:

• Air-supplied respirators are used for high concentrations of hazardous materials or in atmospheres that do not have enough oxygen.
• Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, or SCBA, is used under conditions that are immediately dangerous to life and health, such as in an emergency response to a serious chemical spill.
• Remember that all respirators and filtering face pieces must be certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH.

Wear and Care of Respiratory Protection

The appropriate wear and care of respiratory protection is extremely important if it is to provide proper protection.

• To begin, medical approval is required for some types of respirators. Our workplace’s Respiratory Protection Program includes information about the necessary medical approvals.
• A fit test must be conducted at least annually if you are required to wear a respirator. Fit testing involves different techniques to make sure the respirator seals to your face properly.
• Finally, you should always inspect your respirator before each use, checking parts such as the seal, head straps, valves, and cartridges for signs of cracking, wear, or other damage. Any damaged parts should be discarded and replaced.

Wear and Care of Respiratory Protection (cont.)

Here are some more steps to follow if you wear a respirator in the workplace.

• Check the seal of the respirator every time you put it on, to make sure it fits your face properly. A positive seal check involves breathing out while blocking the exhalation valve to see if air escapes. A negative seal check involves covering the inhalation valves while breathing in. The respirator should stay caved in—if it doesn’t, the seal leaks.
• You should clean your respirator regularly. Daily cleaning might involve using an alcohol wipe. A thorough cleaning, needed periodically, involves taking the respirator apart and cleaning it with soap and water, then leaving the parts to air dry.
• It’s also important to properly store respirators to protect them from dust and other contaminants. Place the respirator in a sealed plastic bag, and store so its natural shape is not distorted.

Hearing Protection

Hearing protection is required when you work in areas that contain loud sound. There are many types of hearing protection, including earplugs, canal caps, and earmuffs.

• There are many different styles and brands of earplugs, but they are all very similar. Earplugs offer great protection from noise and are lightweight and unobtrusive. Just remember to make sure the plugs are clean before inserting them in your ear. Get a new pair at the beginning of each day.
• Canal caps are useful for employees who are exposed to loud noise for short periods of time or someone who has to walk through a high-noise area to get from one department to another. They usually do not have the same protection as the plugs because they do not enter the ear canal; they merely cap the canal’s entrance.
• Earmuffs are generally used as a supplemental protection from noise. They might be used in addition to earplugs to help reduce noise exposure even further. Headphones from portable radios do not count as hearing protection devices. If the earmuffs do not fit perfectly or seal adequately, they can actually increase noise exposure because noise may actually echo inside the “muff.” The following guidance should be followed when wearing earmuffs:

– Muffs must fully enclose the ears and seal against the head.

– Pull hair back and out from beneath the muffs.

– Make sure glasses and caps don’t interfere with seal.

– Adjust headband so cushions exert even pressure.

– Clean muffs with warm, soapy water and rinse thoroughly.

Selecting Head Protection

As with other types of PPE, if head hazards are found in your workplace, your employer selects head protection specific to each hazard. Here are some examples:

• Hard hats protect the head from impact or penetration. They are usually made of high-density polyethylene so that they are lightweight, but strong enough to protect against falling objects.
• Electrical insulation hard hats are used to reduce the risk of electrical shock and can protect against such hazards as power lines. However, do not assume that a hard hat will protect against electrical hazards just because it is not made of metal.
• Bump caps should be used around low-hanging objects such as pipes, steel structures, or machinery parts. However, bump caps are not intended to protect against falling objects or electrical hazards.
• Hard hats in the workplace must meet ANSI standards and be marked with “Z89” to show that they meet these standards.

Wear and Care of Head Protection

Head protection needs to be worn correctly and cared for properly.

• Head protection must fit properly. There are different kinds of suspension systems for hard hats, and you should know how to adjust the suspension for a secure and comfortable fit.
• Inspect the hard hat before each use. Check for cracks or any other damage that might reduce the ability of the hard hat to provide protection. This includes inspecting the suspension system for cracks, worn straps, or other damage. Make sure the suspension system is installed properly, not backwards.
• Clean hard hats regularly with soap and water.
• Finally, hard hats should be used only for their intended purpose, which is to protect the head. They should not be used as a seat or a step stool, as this might damage them and reduce their ability to protect the head properly.

Selecting Foot Protection

Wearing foot protection is another important way to reduce the risk of serious injuries. Different types of foot PPE include:

• Steel-toe work boots or shoes protect against rolling or falling objects that could crush your toes.
• Some footwear provides metatarsal protection—that is, it protects the bones of the foot behind the toes. Other types of protective footwear provide steel in the heel and along the ankle to help keep the ankle from being twisted.
• The sole of the shoe or boot can protect against different kinds of hazards. Some soles are puncture-resistant to protect against sharp objects, while slip-resistant soles prevent injury on wet or slippery floors, and still others prevent absorption. Be aware that surfaces with water on them require a different kind of slip-resistant sole than surfaces with oily substances.
• Chemical-resistant boots are needed if there is a risk of splashing from liquid chemicals, acids, or caustics.
• Waterproof and cold-weather footwear may be needed if you work in wet, muddy, or cold conditions. Rain boots made of PVC or rubber can help keep feet dry. Special liners can help insulate feet against extreme cold.
• Lastly, protective footwear must be marked “Z41” to show that it complies with ANSI standards.

Wear and Care of Foot Protection

The proper wear and care of foot protection should not be taken for granted.

• Protective footwear should be comfortable, just like everyday shoes.
• You should inspect footwear before each use to ensure it will provide the intended protection.
• Make sure there are no holes or cracks in waterproof boots or footwear designed to protect against hazardous liquids.
• Check soles for excessive wear, especially if they are intended to protect against slips or punctures.
• Finally, keep protective footwear clean. Dirt, mud, and hazardous materials should be removed after each use to help keep the footwear in good condition.

Selecting Hand Protection

The proper hand protection is essential for protecting against a wide range of possible injuries. Let’s familiarize ourselves with the different types of hand PPE.

• Chemical-resistant gloves can be made of rubber, latex, Viton®, butyl, nitrile, neoprene, or PVC, and are graded by the manufacturer for degradation, breakthrough time, and permeation rate. The type of chemical-resistant gloves chosen will be specific to the chemical being used.
• Gloves made of Kevlar® and metal mesh are resistant to cuts and punctures. These kinds of gloves should be worn when handling saws, knives, or glass.
• Leather or canvas work gloves are commonly used to protect against cuts and scrapes. These can be coated with other materials to improve grip.
• Extreme temperatures of hot or cold require special gloves. Gloves made of terrycloth, leather, or pigskin help protect against burns. Gloves with liners are helpful when working in cold conditions.
• Electricians need lineman’s gloves designed to protect against different levels of voltage. High-voltage gloves are black rubber with red interior so that any cuts or damage to the outside layer can easily be seen. Liners are worn under these gloves to help absorb perspiration.

Wear and Care of Hand Protection

As with all other kinds of personal protective equipment, the proper wear and care of hand protection is extremely important.

• Protective gloves should fit comfortably. Gloves should not be too tight, which restricts your hand movement, or too loose, which creates the hazard of being snagged or limits the ability to grip and feel properly.
• Inspect protective gloves before each use. Check chemical-resistant gloves for cracks, holes, cuts, or other damage. Gloves that protect against cuts and punctures should not show wear and tear. Electrician’s gloves should not have any tears or scrapes. Aluminized heat-resistant gloves should not have abrasions on the outer surface or damage to the inner linings.
• Keep gloves clean and dry. You should decontaminate chemical-resistant gloves after each use.
• It’s also important to discard gloves if they become damaged or contaminated.

Selecting General Work Clothing

As a final point about proper protection, we’ll discuss how general work clothing is selected to guard against possible hazards.

• Long-sleeve shirts and long pants help protect against skin damage from contact with hot or cold objects. Long-sleeve shirts and long pants also protect against sharp or rough materials that could cause cuts and abrasions. They also may be necessary if working in cold conditions, in addition to coats and jackets. • Flame-retardant clothing should be worn by welders or grinders who are exposed to sparks.
• Loose clothing and jewelry should not be worn if you are exposed to moving machinery. Long hair should be tied back. The machinery might grab loose sleeves, ties, lapels, cuffs, watches, bracelets, or rings, and pull body parts into the machine.
• Finally, chemical-resistant clothing provides protection against the specific materials being used.

Selecting Personal Fall Protection Systems

OSHA defines fall protection as “any equipment, device, or system that prevents a worker from falling from an elevation or mitigates the effect of a fall.” There are several fall protection options, depending on your particular work activity:

• A guardrail system is a barrier erected along an unprotected or exposed edge, side, or other working-walking surface to prevent workers from falling to a lower level.
• Safety net systems are horizontal or semihorizontal, cantilever-style barriers that use a netting system to stop falling workers before they make contact with a lower level or obstruction.
• A personal fall arrest system arrests, or stops, a fall before the worker contacts a lower level. It consists of a body harness, anchorage, and connector, and may include a lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline, or a suitable combination. Body belts are not allowed as part of a personal fall arrest system.
• A positioning system is a system of equipment and connectors that, when used with a body harness or body belt, allows a worker to be supported on an elevated vertical surface, such as a wall or window sill, and work with both hands free.
• A travel restraint system is a combination of an anchorage, anchorage connector, lanyard (or other means of connection), and body support to eliminate the possibility of a worker going over the unprotected edge or side of a walking-working surface.
• A ladder safety system is a system attached to a fixed ladder designed to eliminate or reduce the possibility of a worker falling off the ladder. It usually consists of a carrier, safety sleeve, lanyard, connectors, and body harness. Cages and wells are not considered ladder safety systems.

Use of Personal Fall Protection Systems

Your personal fall protection systems and their components need to be:

• Used exclusively for fall protection and not for any other purpose, such as hoisting equipment or materials; and
• Inspected before initial use during each work shift for mildew, wear, damage, and other deterioration, and damaged parts must be removed from service.

Exercise

Now it’s time for another exercise. See if you can match each hazard with the type of PPE that would protect against it.

• To protect against potentially harmful light radiation, you would wear shaded filter lenses.
• A form of PPE that protects against low hanging objects is a bump cap.
• Rolling and falling objects could crush your toes, so you should wear steel-toe footwear.
• To protect against sparks, you would wear flame-retardant clothing.
• If you are handling hazardous materials, chemical-resistant gloves may be necessary.
• Lastly, to protect against fall hazards, you could use a positioning system.

It’s important to remember that you may have to wear multiple forms of PPE if the hazard poses a risk to other parts of your body.

Selecting PPE – Any Questions?

Do you understand the information presented in the previous slides? Do you understand:

• How the appropriate PPE is selected?
• What the limitations of each type of PPE are?
• How to properly wear and care for each type of PPE?

Understanding the information will help keep you safe in the workplace.

Key Things to Remember

Here are some key points for you to take away from this session on personal protective equipment:

• Every job function in every department is assessed for hazards;
• Each part of the body is taken into consideration during assessments;
• PPE is selected in response to specific hazards; and finally
• Proper wear and care of PPE is necessary to provide effective protection.

This concludes today’s training session on Personal Protective Equipment—What Employees Need to Know.