PURPOSE
This section is provided as guidance for University managers,
supervisors, and others responsible for determining the personal protective
equipment (PPE) needed for a particular workplace operation, ensuring
the use of PPE, and training PPE users in their areas in order to
comply with NCOSHA requirements.
SCOPE
The scope of these requirements is limited to those occupational
exposures or processes where head, eye, face, foot, hand, or skin
hazards exist and the use of safety equipment such as gloves, hard
hats, face shields, safety glasses, goggles, hearing protection, safety
shoes, and voltage-protection hard hats are needed.
These requirements do not apply to respiratory protection, chemical
protective clothing, fall protection equipment or to electrical protective
devices such as rubber insulating gloves, shoes/boots, blankets, hoods,
sleeves, and line hoses. These protective equipment items are covered
in separate NCOSHA standards. However, these requirements do apply
to voltage protection hard hats.
CONTROLLING HAZARDS
Personal protective equipment does not provide unlimited protection.
Personal protective equipment should be used only when guards, engineering
controls, administrative controls and safe work practices do not adequately
eliminate the hazard.
HAZARD ASSESSMENT
Supervisors need to perform a walkaround survey to observe hazards
that call for use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Hazard assessments
can be conducted facility-wide, department-wide, by job task, or for each
individual's exposure. The key to compliance is documenting the hazards,
then reducing or eliminating the hazards; and where that's not completely
feasible, provide and require the appropriate use of PPE.
Assessments document that:
• Identifies itself as a certification that the workplace has
been evaluated.
• Specifies the department, area or workplace evaluated.
• Includes the signature of the person performing the evaluation.
• Includes the dates of the initial survey or date(s) of the
reassessment of the PPE when changes occur.
Send a copy of the survey, along with documentation that the employee
received and understood training on any selected PPE, to the Safety
and Worker's Compensation Office.
SURVEY
Surveys should include observations on the likelihood of injury or
illness to occur from:
• Sources of motion, which includes machinery or processes where
an injury could result from movement of tools, machine elements or particles,
or movement of personnel that could result in collisions, blows, or tripping
around stationary objects.
• Sources of high or freezing temperatures that could
result in burns, eye injury, or ignition of personal protective equipment.
• Chemical exposures such as splashes, vapors, sprays
or immersion that could cause illness or injury.
• Sources of dust that could cause a physical hazard
to worker's eyes, or be inhaled or ingested by an employee.
• Sources of light (optical) radiation such as welding,
brazing, cutting, or high intensity light sources, including sunlight.
• Sources of falling objects or possibility of dropping
objects that could pose a compression or projectile hazard to
a worker's head, face, hands, or feet.
• Sources of sharp objects, which might pierce the feet
or cut the hands or body.
• Sources of rolling or pinching objects, which could
crush the feet.
• Electrical hazards.
• Sources of excessive noise or vibration.
• Layout of workplace and location of co-workers.
For each of the above hazard sources, supervisors need to consider
the possible occurrence of injury or illness to his/her employee(s)
from each of the hazards surveyed in the workplace. Specific injury
or illness factors to consider include:
• Types of possible injuries or illnesses (e.g. employee
exposures to chemicals can result in skin rashes, other skin disorders).
• Risk levels (e.g. probable, possible, or unlikely
to occur). NOTE: Skin disorders are the number two cause of occupational
illness, following ergonomics.
• Seriousness (e.g. death; permanent impairment; serious
injury or illness resulting from chronic and/or acute exposures; temporary
injury or illness; or minor/treated injury or illness).
Reassessments need to be made when processes or equipment changes
occur in the department/area or specific workplace. Contact the Safety & Workers'
Compensation Office at extension 4007 to schedule a workplace Hazard
Assessment in your area.
ADDITIONAL SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITIES
In the event hazards cannot be eliminated or abated and PPE is
needed to prevent further employee injury or illness, it is the supervisor's
responsibility to:
• Select appropriate PPE and require employees to use
selected PPE.
• Inform employees about the selection decisions.
• Select PPE that fits (and will be used) by employees.
• Select certified PPE that complies with the appropriate ANSI
standard.
NOTE: There is no ANSI standard for hand protection. Contact
the S&WC Office if you have questions.
• Ensure that PPE, including PPE owned by the employee, is
maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition. Prohibit the use
of defective, unsanitary or damaged PPE.
• Train employees in the following areas: when PPE is necessary
for use; what PPE is necessary; how to properly wear PPE; and the
proper care, maintenance, useful life and disposal of PPE (NOTE: Be
sure to include in-house replacement procedures for obtaining PPE).
Employees need to demonstrate an understanding of the training received
and the ability to use PPE properly before being allowed to perform
work requiring the use of PPE.
• Retrain employees when changes in the workplace or changes
in the type of PPE used render previous training obsolete or when
there is evidence that an employee does not understand the use and
care of PPE.
• Certify in writing that the employee has received and understands
the training. Keep a copy of the training record in the department
and forward a copy to the Safety & Workers' Compensation Office.
Contact the Safety & Workers' Compensation Office at Extension
4007 if you have questions concerning these requirements.
(Updated July 31, 2003)
