Personal Protective Equipment

OSHA requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels. Employers are required to determine if PPE should be used to protect their workers.

If PPE is to be used, a PPE program should be implemented. This program should address the hazards present; the selection, maintenance, and use of PPE; the training of employees; and monitoring of the program to ensure its ongoing effectiveness.

PPE is addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals, and longshoring.

Earlier this year OSHA issued a Compliance Directive on Personal Protective Equipment. This instruction, Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry, establishes OSHA’s general enforcement and guidance policy for its standards addressing personal protective equipment (PPE). It instructs OSHA enforcement personnel on both the agency’s interpretations of those standards and the procedures for enforcing them.

Significant Changes
This instruction has been revised and updated to include the following significant changes:
*Clarifies what type of PPE employers must provide at no cost, when employers must pay for PPE, or for replacement PPE, and when employers are not required to pay for PPE.
*Clarifies the PPE payment requirements for PPE worn off the jobsite, for PPE that must remain at the jobsite, and for employee-owned PPE.
*Sets forth enforcement policies that reflect court and review commission decisions concerning PPE.
*Provides guidance that allows employers to use PPE constructed in accordance with the most recent national consensus standards.