Personal protective equipment can be the only thing preventing serious injury or death for an

employee. Whether gloves protecting fingers from dangerous machinery or hazmat suits

protecting employees from life threatening chemicals, this equipment is vital to employee

protection and, as such, is taken very seriously by the United States Department of Labor’s

Occupational Safety and Health Administration and should be taken very seriously by every

employer.

To help employers, OSHA created Standard 1910.132, which sets clear, basic standards for

personal protective equipment. In addition, certain standards have further clarification for what

type of personal protective equipment is required when dealing with those hazards and how they

must be maintained. So when creating or updating occupational safety and health policies and

procedures, it is important to ensure personal protective equipment is an integral part of them.

If you have not recently ensured all of your occupational safety and health policies and

procedures include information relating to the requisite personal protective equipment, it might

be a good time to do so. It is important, too, to make sure not only that the policies and

procedures name which personal protective equipment is required, but also how it is stored, how

it is maintained, and who is responsible for checking to see that it is in good, working order.

If you have any questions about personal protective equipment policies, either how to create

them or how to update existing policies to ensure they are compliant, please contact us. If you

have anything else to add in relation to personal protective equipment policies, please leave a

comment.