Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) Requirements

www.safetygoodwe.com

Safety Talk

Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) Requirements

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is designed to protect the wearer from injury by physical, chemical and biological hazards. It is the employer’s duty to supply the equipment and it is the employees’ duty to wear it. PPE is a last defence – if you do not wear it you have no defence!!!! 

Under National Agreements and statutory requirements, we have a duty to wear the protective clothing and safety equipment’s provided for our use and protection. The term "personal protective equipment" (PPE) refers to the equipment and clothing that are meant to keep workers safe on the job. Safety gloves, helmets, goggles, respirators, protective clothes, safety shoes, Harness belt etc. are all examples of personal protective equipment.

PPE is a second line of defense. The first line is to eliminate or minimize the workplace hazards. PPE cannot eliminate the hazard; it can help eliminate an injury or reduce its severity.

Wearing personal protective equipment can prevent injury to arms, legs, face, and can even save your life.

• Mandatory equipment on this site – this may include safety boots, hard hat and high visibility vest.
• Job specific equipment must be available and worn.
• Company employees will be supplied with the required equipment – all sub contractors and self employed must provide their own.
• All equipment must be treated with respect – you may depend on it to save your life! 

It’s true that PPE isn’t always comfortable or attractive. Safety glasses, for example, are more obvious than contact lenses and protective gloves may make your hands hot and sweaty. But those are very minor inconveniences when compared to the loss of sight, limb, or facial disfigurement. Also the cost of providing safety glasses to all workers is very low when you consider the cost of loss of sight of one worker.

The wearing of PPE is a positive approach to accident prevention.

Persons who must work where hazards cannot be eliminated or controlled at source, and where ordinary work clothes do not afford sufficient protection should use personal protective equipment, which if necessary, can protect the person from head to toe.

There are various activities in the job site requires particular protective clothing or equipment. The thumb rule is — you must wear the right protection for the specific task and condition. All employees should wear the recommended minimum PPE at the work site as specified below.

1. Minimum Clothing requirement; Coveralls. Scarves, mufflers and other loose clothing used for covering head / neck are not permitted in plant area or while performing any work. Special disposable coveralls recommended while entering confined spaces and contaminated areas.
2. Safety shoes (steel toed ) and safety helmets are mandatory for working in plant areas and workshops.
3. Safety eye Protection-Industrialtype safety glasses with side shields or monogoggles are worn by all personnel inside units and workshops. Must be approved by approval agencies like MSA( Mines Safety Appliances ).
4. Monogoggles (chemical splash) must be worn; When entering posted area / units or While doing PM jobs on battery.
5. Hearing protection shall be worn in areas posted “Hearing protection required ”
6. Work gloves are worn when handling wire and metal materials containing sharp or rough edges.
7. Chemical resistant gloves / rubber gloves are worn when handling hazardous chemicals, contaminated equipments and battery.
8. Safety belts / Safety harness are compulsory while working on elevations 6 feet above grade.
9. Special personal protective equipment defined in departmental procedures —like H2S monitor, LEL indicator, Oxygen analyzer, SCBA etc. are required when opening process equipment and / or lines suspected of containing hazardous / toxic chemicals.
10. Use proper respiratory protection suitable for the atmosphere depending on the type of contaminant. For Ex, dust mask where dust is present and chemical canister type respirator where aerosols and chemicals pose a hazard.
11. Life jackets, lifebuoy. rafts and other life saving equipments must be available when working above water at Piers and berths.
12. SCBA must be worn if you are trying to control a toxic gas release. Do not attempt to use a breathing apparatus if you are not trained to use it.

Using of Personal Protective Equipment 

1. Using personal protective equipment is a requirement of everyone‟s job. All work related personal protective equipment must be made available in organization and to be provided to work force. Employees must use PPEs as per work requirements 
   
2. Hard hats are required in ALL field work areas. The only exception for wearing hard hats are inside offices, when riding inside vehicle, etc. 
3. Eye protection must be worn when working around blowing sand, pressurized equipment, when using striking tools such as shipping, when working around operating equipment, and when working with chemicals. 
4. Leather and rubber gloves also aprons and coveralls- are available and are required as applicable. 
5. Foot wear must be of sound construction, and steel toes are required for many jobs. Athletic shoes are not allowed at work places i.e. in the construction site, oil fields or refineries
   
6. Hand-in damaged safety equipment to your supervisor for replacement. This applies especially to coveralls. 
7. You are also required to wear long pants and long sleeved shirt to provide full body protection against direct exposure to harmful material and sun. Shorts are not allowed. 
8. Respirators are also supplied as necessary. You may request a respirator from your supervisor.