SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST

SAFETY BULLETIN / October - December 2005

OSHA requires employers to use personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not adequate. Employers are required to determine all exposures to hazards in their workplace and determine if PPE should be used to protect their workers. Before employees ever begin working on a job site, the employer must first evaluate the hazards involved with each specific task. When complying with PPE requirements, follow this simple checklist

• Do a work place walk-through and look for hazards (including potential hazards) in all employees’ work spaces and work place operating procedures.
• Consider engineering, administrative, and/or work practice methods to control the hazard first. Identify those existing/potential hazards and tasks that require PPE.
• Select the appropriate PPE to match the hazards and protect employees.
• Communicate PPE selection to each at-risk employee. Provide properly fitting PPE to each employee required to use it.
• Train employees to make sure they understand the elements of the PPE training.
• Test employees to make sure they understand the elements of the PPE training.
• Follow up to evaluate effectiveness of PPE use, training, policies, etc. against the hazards at your workplace.
  - Have all employees been trained?
  - Are all employees using their PPE properly and following PPE policies and procedures?
  - Are supervisors enforcing use of required PPE?
  - Has anything changed at your workplace (e.g., fewer injuries/illnesses)?

After the completion of this simple checklist, employees should be ready to begin the job safely and be adequately protected from exposure to existing or potential hazards.