Personal Protective Equipment - What’s it all about?

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Personal Protective Equipment - Whats it all
about?

• Prepared for University Safety Council May 2002
• Curt Speaker
• EHS

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Personal Protective Equipment

• Definition Devices used to protect an employees
  from injury or illness resulting from contact
  with chemical , radiological, physical,
  electrical, mechanical, or other workplace
  hazards (OSHA)
• The need for PPE and the type of PPE used is
  based on hazard present each situation must be
  evaluated independently

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Some Caveats

• PPE is used as a last resort
• The use of PPE signifies that the hazard could
  not be controlled by other methods, such as
• administrative controls (i.e., shift rotation)
• engineering or industrial hygiene controls

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Engineering IH Controls

• Design (remove hazard from process)
• Substitution (of less hazardous materials)
• Process modification (how and where)
• Isolate the process or the worker
• Wet methods for dust reduction
• Local exhaust ventilation (at source)
• Dilution ventilation (area)
• Good housekeeping

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Back to the caveats...

• The use of PPE signals that the hazard still
  exists in the workplace
• Unprotected individuals in the same area will be
  exposed
• Failure of PPE means that the worker will be
  exposed
• PPE can be combined with other controls

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So, what is it???
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PPE

• Head protection
• Eye and Face protection
• Hearing protection
• Respiratory protection
• Arm and Hand protection
• Foot and Leg protection
• Protective clothing

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Head Protection
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Hard Hats work by dissipating force
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(No Transcript)
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Eye Protection
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Eye Protection

• Common Uses
• Impact Protection
• Chemical Hazards
• Radiation Protection
• welders goggles
• laser goggles
• UV
• Infrared

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Eye Protection - Selection

• Visitor specs are only appropriate for
  non-employees with no true exposure to hazards
• Safety glasses are used to protect the eyes from
  flying objects (no face protection)
• Chemical splash goggles protect against fluids by
  sealing tightly against the face
• Face shields provide highest level of protection

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Face Shield - the highest level of face protection
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Hearing Protection
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Hearing Protection Basics

• Noise induced hearing loss can occur with
  exposures gt90 dBA
• A hearing conservation program becomes a
  requirement at exposures gt85dBA
• Higher levels of noise exposure have shorter
  allowable exposure times

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Noise levels versus Duration

• Sound Level (dBA)
• 90
• 92
• 95
• 100
• 105
• 110
• 115

• Exposure (hours)
• 8
• 6
• 4
• 2
• 1
• 0.5
• 0.25

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Hearing Protection

• Rule of Thumb - if you cannot carry on a
  conversation in a normal tone of voice with
  someone at arms length, you are likely near
  90dBA
• All hearing protection devices should have a
  Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of decibels they
  will reduce noise levels
• Be conservative when using NRRs

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A couple examples

• Example 1
• Ear plugs with NRR of 25 dBA
• exposure 105 dBA
• 105 minus 25 80 dB therefore okay
• Example 2
• same plugs
• exposure 125 dBA
• 125 minus 25 100 dB not acceptable must be
  below 90 dB

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Hearing Protection - Types

• Ear Plugs - less expensive, disposable, good ones
  have fairly high NRRs - sometimes difficult to
  tell if employees are wearing them
• Ear Muffs - more expensive, more durable,
  typically higher NRRs than plugs, more obvious
• Can be used together in very high noise areas

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Arm and Hand Protection
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Gloves - Typical Uses

• Chemical protection
• Biohazard protection
• Abrasion protection
• Friction protection
• Protection from extremes of heat and cold

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Gloves - more caveats

• No glove is good against all hazards consult
  laboratory safety link on EHS web page for glove
  selection chart
• Gloves have a finite lifespan and must be
  periodically replaced
• When donning gloves, examine them for signs of
  tears, cracks, holes and dry rot
• Hands should always be washed after removing
  gloves

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Handwashing and gloves
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Foot and Leg Protection
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Protective Footwear

• Steel-toed footwear, preferably with metatarsal
  guards, is used to protect feet from crushing
  injuries caused by heavy objects
• Rubber boots are often used to protect feet from
  exposure to liquids
• Chaps or leggings are used in certain
  applications (i.e., using a chainsaw)

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Other Protective Clothing
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Other Protective Clothing

• Used to protect street clothes from hazards in
  the workplace
• Often hazard specific
• To be considered effective, protective clothing
  must prevent the contaminant from reaching the
  clothing or skin of the wearer!

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Respiratory Protection
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Respiratory Protection

• Protects users by removing harmful materials that
  may enter the body via the lungs
• Inhalation is one of the quickest, most efficient
  ways to introduce lethal levels of hazardous
  materials into the body

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Respiratory System
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Respirators - types

• Air Purifying Respirators (APR)
• Half-face
• Full Face
• Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPR)
• Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)

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Respirators

• Does not include
• surgical masks
• dust masks
• N-95 respirators are a special class of
  respiratory protection primarily used in the
  health care field

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Respirators - A Big Caveat!!!

• Employees should not wear a respirator unless
  they have been medically cleared to do so!
• This clearance may take the form of a
  questionnaire, physical examination, pulmonary
  function testing, chest X-Ray, or a combination
  of the above

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Why?

• Respirators put additional resistance against the
  respiratory system of the wearer
• Persons with undiagnosed respiratory system or
  cardiovascular problems could trigger a serious
  medical problem (respiratory distress, asthma,
  heart attack, etc.) by using a respirator

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Respirators are incompatible with facial hair
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Facial hair

• The respirator cannot form a tight seal against
  the cheeks and chin, resulting in air leaks which
  can allow airborne contaminants to be inhaled
• Specially designed PAPR hoods can be used for
  employees with facial hair
• small amounts of facial hair that fit inside of
  the respirator facepiece are acceptable

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PPE Usage

• PPE that is required to safely conduct University
  work should be purchased by the work unit
• Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that PPE
  is available and worn
• Employees are responsible for wearing
  maintaining PPE, and reporting worn or defective
  PPE to their supervisor

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Recap

• PPE is hazard specific the hazards of each
  workplace and task must be evaluated
• PPE is used as a last resort when the hazard
  cannot be controlled by other methods
• Supervisors are responsible to ensure it is
  available and worn Employees must wear and
  maintain their PPE

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Recap

• PPE is only considered effective if it prevents
  the contaminant from reaching the wearer
• Respirators should not be worn by employees
  unless they have been medically cleared to do so

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Dressed for Success!
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For additional information on PPE...

• Check the EHS web site
• http//www.ehs.psu.edu
• Or contact EHS directly