This transcript explains employer and employee responsibilities for personal protective equipment (PPE) under OSHA. Employers must perform hazard assessments, provide appropriate PPE, train employees, maintain and review PPE programs, and (per OSHA) pay for required PPE; the transcript lists examples employers must purchase and common exceptions. Employees must properly use, care for, and report issues with PPE and attend training.
Chapters
To ensure the greatest possible protection for employees in the workplace, the cooperative efforts of both employers and employees is needed in establishing and maintaining a safe and healthful work environment. The employer has responsibility over several aspects of PPE use. These include performing a hazard assessment of the workplace to identify and control physical and health hazards identifying and providing appropriate PPE for employees training employees in the use and care of the PPE maintaining ppe, including replacing worn or damaged equipment periodically reviewing and updating and evaluating the effectiveness of the PPE program. It's also important to know that OSHA requires employers to pay for personal protective equipment used to comply with OSHA standards. The standard makes it clear that employers cannot require workers to provide their own ppe, and the worker's use of PPE they already own must be completely voluntary. Even when a worker provides his or her own ppe, the employer must ensure that the equipment is adequate to protect the worker from hazards at the workplace. Examples of PPE that employers must pay for include metatarsal foot protection, rubber boots with steel toes, non prescription eye protection prescription eyewear inserts, lenses for full face respirators, goggles and face shields, firefighting PPE helmets, gloves, boots, proximity suits, full gear, hard hatch hearing protection and welding ppe. Of course, the employer only purchases these if the job hazard calls for it, so don't expect to get a firefighter settlement if your job doesn't include riding a big red truck filled with water. So that said, employers are not required to pay for some PPE in certain circumstances. Non specialty safety tow protective footwear including steel toe shoes or boots and non specialty prescription safety eyewear provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job site Everyday clothing such as long sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes and normal work boots ordinary clothing, skin creams or other items used solely for protection from the weather such as winter coats, jackets, gloves, parkas, rubber boots, hats, raincoats, ordinary sunglasses and sunscreen such items as hair nets and gloves when these are worn for consumer safety lifting belts because their value in protecting the back is questionable. Also when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE and it must be replaced. Employees are also very much responsible for certain aspects of implementing the PPE program. They are responsible for properly wearing ppe, attending training sessions on ppe, caring for cleaning and maintaining PPE, and informing a supervisor of the need to repair or replace PPE.
