Personal Protective Equipment Selection Guidelines What is PPE? PPE (Personal protective equipment) is defined as “all equipment which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects them against one or more risks to their health or safety”.
Hazard Assessment When is PPE Necessary? 1. Impact hazards: Falling objects or potential for dropping objects 2. Penetration Hazards: Objects or machinery that may cause punctures, cuts, or abrasions 3. Compression Hazards : Machinery/heavy objects that may roll over and crush or pinch feet 4. Chemical Hazards: Chemical exposures from inhalation or contact with the skin and eyes 5. Heat Hazards : Hot work areas and sources of high temperature that could result in burns, eye injury, or ignition of PPE 6. Harmful Dust: Dust from sandblasting, sawing, grinding, or other generation of airborne dust. 7. Optical Radiation: Sources of light radiation (welding, cutting, lasers, high intensity lights). 8. Biological Hazards: Exposures to blood or other body fluids, mold, or other biological exposures. 9. Noise Hazards: Excessive noise (louder than a hair dryer). 10. Electrical Hazards.
Types of Protection There are many types of protective equipment, each with specific applications and use requirements. Information on common elements of the PPE ensemble include: 1. Respiratory : Responders should use appropriate respirators to protect against adverse health effects caused by breathing contaminated air. 2. Eye & Face : Eye and face protection should protect responders from the hazards of flying fragments, hot sparks, and chemical splashes. 3. Skin : Skin protection should be used when responders may be exposed to harmful substances. 4. Noise :Earplugs or earmuffs can help prevent damage to hearing. Exposure to high noise levels can cause irreversible hearing loss or impairment as well as physical and psychological stress.
Guidance on the selection of specific PPE PPE are used in three condition: Ø No control to eliminate the Hazard Ø Immediate danger to life and health Ø Emergency. 1. Hand and arm Protection
Gloves should be worn when handling: • • • • •
hazardous materials; toxic chemicals; corrosive materials; materials with sharp or rough edges; very hot or very cold materials.
Selecting gloves for use with chemicals Glove selection - the following properties should be taken into account when selecting the type of glove to be used: •
•
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Degradation – the change in one or more physical properties of the glove upon contact with the chemical. This is usually reported in a chemical compatibility chart as E (excellent), G (good), F (fair), P (poor), NR (not recommended) or NT (not tested). Breakthrough time – the time between initial contact of the chemical on the surface of the glove and the analytical detection of the chemical on the inside of the glove. Given on a chemical compatibility chart in minutes. Permeation rate – the rate at which the chemical passes through the glove once breakthrough has occurred and equilibrium is reached. This is usually reported as 0 (if there is no breakthrough), Slow, Medium or Fast.
Other aspects to be taken into account when selecting gloves are: • dexterity requirements; • size; and • latex allergy
Before use, gloves should be examined for defects that may affect performance. During use, do not touch anything else (such as hair, door handles etc.) other than the materials needing to be handled as this causes contamination. Chemical resistant Gloves Selection chart Gloves
Material
Usage
Comments
Recommended for
Not recommended
Latex
Natural Rubber
Incidental contact
Good for biological and waterWeak Acids, Weak bases, based materials. Poor for organic alcohols, aqueous solutions solvents. Little chemical protection. Can puncture holes Can cause or trigger latex allergies
Nitrile
Synthetic Rubber
Incidental contact
Good for solvents, oils, greases, and some acids and bases. Clear indication of tears and breaks. Good alternative for those with latex allergies
Oils, greases, acids, caustics, Aromatic solvents, many aliphatic solvents ketones, esters, many chlorinated solvents
Butyl
Synthetic Rubber
Extended contact
Good for ketones and esters. Poor for gasoline and aliphatic, aromatic, and halogenated hydrocarbons
Aldehydes, ketones, esters, glycol ethers, polar organic solvents
Aliphatic, aromatic and chlorinated solvents
Neoprene Synthetic Rubber
Extended contact
Good for acids, bases, alcohols, fuels, peroxides, hydrocarbons, and phenols. Poor for halogenated and aromatic hydrocarbons
Oxidizing acids, bases, alcohols, oils, fats, aniline, phenol, glycol ethers
Chlorinated solvents
Acids, alcohols, bases, water
Oils, greases and organics
PVA
Poly-Vinyl Specific Alcohol use
Good for aromatic and chlorinated solvents. Poor for water-based solutions
A wide range of aliphatic, aromatic and chlorinated solvents, ketones (except acetone), esters, ethers
PVC
Poly-Vinyl Specific Chloride use
Good for acids, bases, oils, fats, peroxides, and amines. Good resistance to abrasions. Poor for most organic solvents
Strong acids and bases, salts, Aliphatic, aromatic and other aqueous solutions, chlorinated solvents, alcohols, glycol ethers aldehydes, ketones, nitrocompunds
Viton
Fluoroelastimer
Good for chlorinated and aromatic solvents. Good resistance to cuts and abrasions. Poor for ketones.
Aromatic, aliphatic and chlorinated solvents, and alcohols
Extended use
Some ketones, esters, amines
Leather, Canvas or Metal Mesh Gloves Sturdy gloves made from metal mesh, leather or canvas provide protection against cuts and burns. Leather or canvass gloves also protect against sustained heat. • • •
Leather gloves protect against sparks, moderate heat, blows, chips and rough objects. Aluminized gloves provide reflective and insulating protection against heat and require an insert made of synthetic materials to protect against heat and cold. Aramid fiber gloves protect against heat and cold, are cut - and abrasive - resistant and wear well.
•
Synthetic gloves of various materials offer protection against heat and cold, are cut - and abrasive - resistant and may withstand some diluted acids. These materials do not stand up against alkalis and solvents.
2. Eyes and Face Protection
Face and eye protection must be worn when there is a danger of splashing, sparks, explosion, ionising radiation, UV etc. Protection comes in the form of: Safety spectacles like normal spectacles but tougher lens material with side shields to prevent impact from flying debris. The lenses in these may be corrective if required. Safety goggles these are completely sealed around the eye area. Also impact resistant and should be used if there is the possibility of splashes from chemicals. The lenses cannot be made corrective although normal spectacles may be worn under them. Face shields these are used when working with high volumes of hazardous material. 3. Hearing protection
Noise is measured in units called decibels (dB). It should be noted that dB is a logarithmic scale thus a change of approximately 3 dB. Exposure to noise during various processes can result in temporary or permanent deafness if the appropriate precautions are not taken. Hearing is at risk during the following: • Constant noise above 80db for an 8 hour work period; • Impact noise; and • Explosive noise. A good indicator of noise level being above the db threshold is having to raise your voice to speak to someone ½ m away.
Ear protection comes in the form of: Ear plugs -‐ which fit inside the ear canal, may not be suitable for people with a history ofear problems. Canal caps -‐ soft rubber caps attached to a headband which presses them into the openingsof the ear canal. Ear muffs – Hard plastic cups with sound absorbent filling which fit over the ears and are sealed to the head by cushions. They are pressed to the head by means of ahead band or some special fittings attached to some types of safety helmet. 4. Foot protection
Safety footwear is required if there is the risk of: • crush or impact injuries; • chemical or molten metal burns; • contamination with harmful substances; • penetration with sharp objects e.g. glass; or • slipping. The appropriate safety footwear should be selected in each instance, e.g. anti-‐slip footwear if the worker is on slippery floors, steel toe-‐capped boots if there is likelihood of crush or impact injuries. In areas such as the laboratory/kitchens/grounds where any crush or chemical injury may be sustained, sandals, open toed shoes or bare feet ARE NOT acceptable.
5. Head Protection
Protecting employees from potential head injuries is a key element of any safety program. A head injury can impair an employee for life or it can be fatal. Wearing a safety helmet or hard hat is one of the easiest
ways to protect an employee's head from injury. Hard hats can protect employees from impact and penetration hazards as well as from electrical shock and burn hazards. Employers must ensure that their employees wear head protection if any of the following apply: • Objects might fall from above and strike them on the head; • They might bump their heads against fixed objects, such as exposed pipes or beams; or • There is a possibility of accidental head contact with electrical hazards. Hard hats are divided into three industrial classes: Class A hard hats provide impact and penetration resistance along with limited voltage protection (up to 2,200 volts). Class B hard hats provide the highest level of protection against electrical hazards, with high-voltage shock and burn protection (up to 20,000 volts). They also provide protection from impact and penetration hazards by flying/falling objects. Class C hard hats provide lightweight comfort and impact protection but offer no protection from electrical hazards. In general, protective helmets or hard hats should do the following: • • • • •
Resist penetration by objects. Absorb the shock of a blow. Be water-resistant and slow burning. Have clear instructions explaining proper adjustment and replacement of the suspension and headband. Hard hats must have a hard outer shell and a shock-absorbing lining that incorporates a headband and straps that suspend the shell from 1 to 1 1/4 inches (2.54 cm to 3.18 cm) away from the head. This type of design provides shock absorption during an impact and ventilation during normal wear.
6. Body protection
Protective clothing should be worn to protect against: • Hazardous substances; • Machinery parts; and • Extreme conditions. Where the user is only exposed to minor splashes and spills, standard lab coats, over coats or aprons are sufficient. Where the danger is greater, the appropriate protection material must be selected.
For example • Flying glass, wear a leather apron • Using a chainsaw, wear a chain mail apron • Using strong acids, wear a rubberized apron
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When working in environments at extreme temperatures e.g. Cold Stores.
6. Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE)
RPE must be selected carefully to ensure it gives adequate protection. The following aspects should be taken into account: • the toxicity of the agent • the size of the particle • the amount of movement involved in the task and working conditions • the individual, e.g. face shape, presence of beard, glasses etc. and • the Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) of the substance and contaminant levels. Respiratory protection may be required against • Gases, vapors and fumes • Dusts and aerosols • Biological agents etc. RPE does not provide absolute protection against a respiratory hazard but provides a degree of protection. The level of protection is given by the Assigned Protection Factor number.
