News Release USDL: 95-347
Wednesday, September 6, 1995
Contact: Edwin Bowers, (202) 219-8615
OSHA Issues Revised Edition Of Booklet On Personal Protective
Equipment
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has
released the latest edition of its booklet on personal protective
equipment(PPE). The booklet discusses the types of equipment most
commonly used for protection of the head, including eyes and
ears, and the torso, arms, hands and feet. The publication
stresses PPE should not be used as a substitute for engineering,
work practice, and/or administrative controls but rather in
conjunction with them. Employers also must be aware that PPE does
not eliminate a hazard.
The revised booklet spells out OSHA's position on cost
assumption for PPE by employers. The publication says that OSHA
interprets its standards as requiring employers to provide and
pay for company-required PPE for the worker to do his or her job
safely and in compliance with OSHA standards. Where equipment is
personal in nature and usable by workers off the job, however,
the matter of payment may be left to labor-management
negotiations.
The pamphlet also spells out five conditions under which
respirators must be used: in regulated areas, in emergencies,
where engineering and work practice controls are inadequate,
where exposures exceed permissible limits, and during maintenance
and repair activities or during brief or intermittent operations
where engineering and work practice controls are not feasible or
required.
Also included are factors to be considered for selecting
gloves such as toxic properties of substances, how the gloves
will be used and their resistance to punctures, tears, or
chemicals.
A single free copy of the booklet may be obtained by sending
a self-addressed label to the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA/OSHA
Publications, P.O. Box 37535 Washington, DC 20013-7535. Telephone
(202) 219-4667, Fax (202) 219-9266.
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