Personal Protective Equipment

PERSONNEL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

This work is not to serve as a training source for the selection, use, maintenance or management of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The focus on PPE cannot be over-emphasized. These are the tools and devises that have been developed over many years to serve as protective elements aiding in minimizing your exposure to any number of known or perceived hazards and exposures.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garment or equipment designed to protect the wearer’s body from injury. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, electrical, heat, chemicals, biohazards, and airborne particulate matter. Protective equipment may be worn for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, as well as for sports and other recreational activities. “Protective clothing” is applied to traditional categories of clothing, and “protective gear” applies to items such as pads, guards, shields, or masks, and others.

The purpose of personal protective equipment is to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective to reduce these risks to acceptable levels. PPE has the serious limitation that it does not eliminate the hazard at source and may result in employees being exposed to the hazard if the equipment fails. ^[Wikipedia]

As PPE does not eliminate a hazard, it has its’ limitations. PPE should always be used as a last resort and you should always try to eliminate the hazard wherever possible. When that’s not feasible, PPE will hopefully serve to minimize such exposure.

Respirators serve to protect the user from breathing in contaminants in the air, thus preserving the health of one’s respiratory tract. There are two main types of respirators. One type of respirator functions by filtering out chemicals and gases or airborne particles from the air breathed by the user. Gas masks and particulate respirators are examples of this type of respirator. A second type of respirator protects users by providing clean, respirable air from another source. This type includes airline respirators and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). In work environments, respirators are relied upon when adequate ventilation is not available or other engineering control systems are not feasible or inadequate. (Source: NIOSH)

Skin Protection, Occupational skin diseases such as contact dermatitis, skin cancers, and other skin injuries and infections are the second most common type of occupational disease and can be very costly. Skin hazards, which lead to occupational skin disease, can be classified into four groups. Chemical agents can come into contact with the skin through direct contact with contaminated surfaces, deposition of aerosols, immersion or splashes. Physical agents such as extreme temperatures and ultraviolet or solar radiation can be damaging to the skin over prolonged exposure. Mechanical trauma occurs in the form of friction, pressure, abrasions, lacerations and contusions. Biological agents such as parasites, microorganisms, plants and animals can have varied effects when exposed to the skin.

Gloves, exposure specific shirts, pants, clothing are generalized safeguards for skin protection.

Eye Protection, Eye injuries can happen through a variety of means. Most eye injuries occur when solid particles such as metal slivers, wood chips, sand or cement chips get into the eye. Smaller particles in smokes and larger particles, such as broken glass also account for particulate matter causing eye injuries. Blunt force trauma can occur to the eye when excessive force comes into contact with the eye. Chemical burns, biological agents, and thermal agents, from sources such as welding torches and UV light also contribute to occupational eye injury.

While the recommended usage of eye protection varies by occupation, the provision of safety furnished by such equipment can be generalized. Safety glasses provide minimum protection from external debris, and are recommended to provide side protection via a wrap-around design or via side shields. Goggles provide better protection than safety glasses, and are effective in preventing eye injury from chemical splashes, impact, dusty environments and welding. It is recommended that goggles with high air flow be used, in order to prevent fogging. Face shields are a useful form of additional protection to be worn over the standard eyewear, and provide protection from impact, chemical, and blood-borne hazards. Full-facepiece respirators are considered the best form of eye protection when respiratory protection is needed as well, but may be less effective against potential impact hazards to the eye. Eye protection used for welding operations is shaded to different degrees, depending on the specific operation.

Hearing Protection, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration establishes occupational noise exposure standards. NIOSH recommends that worker exposures to noise be reduced to a level equivalent to 85 dba for eight hours to reduce occupational noise induced hearing loss.

PPE for hearing protection consists of earplugs and earmuffs. Workers who are regularly exposed to noise levels above the NIOSH recommendation should be furnished hearing protection by the employers, as they are a low-cost intervention.

Center for Disease Control (CDC)/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reference link for PPE selection and use:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/emres/safety/ppe.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/emres/ppe.html

NIOSH / Rand Corporation:

The CDC/NIOSH commissioned the RAND Corporation to develop guidelines for PPE prior to the devastating 911 Attacks. The emphasis expanded its work which created these exceptional resources for protecting first responders through appropriate use, selection and management of PPE with respect to extraordinary events.

Protecting Emergency Responders

Lessons Learned from Terrorist Attacks

http://www.rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF176.html

Protecting Emergency Responders, Volume 2

Community Views of Safety and Health Risks and Personal Protection Needs

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1646.html

Protecting Emergency Responders, Volume 3

Safety Management in Disaster and Terrorism Response

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG170.html

Protecting Emergency Responders

Personal Protective Equipment for Structural Collapse

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG425.pdf