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Health: Chemical & Construction

Site Safe. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) What is personal protective equipment? Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as "PPE", is equipment worn to minimize exposure to serious workplace injuries and illnesses. These injuries and illnesses may result from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards. Personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits. What can be done to ensure proper use of personal protective equipment? All personal protective equipment should be of safe design and construction, and should be maintained in a clean and reliable fashion. When it is necessaryWhat kind is necessaryHow to properly put it on, adjust, wear and take it offThe limitations of the equipmentProper care, maintenance, useful life, and disposal of the equipment If PPE is to be used, a PPE program should be implemented.

Eye and Face Protection. Eye and Face Protection Thousands of people are blinded each year from work-related eye injuries that could have been prevented with the proper selection and use of eye and face protection. Eye injuries alone cost more than $300 million per year in lost production time, medical expenses, and worker compensation. OSHA requires employers to ensure the safety of all employees in the work environment.

Eye and face protection must be provided whenever necessary to protect against chemical, environmental, radiological or mechanical irritants and hazards. Eye and face protection is addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, longshoring, and the construction industry. Standards This section highlights OSHA standards, Federal Registers (rules, proposed rules, and notices), standard interpretations (official letters of interpretation of the standards), and national consensus standards related to eye and face protection. Federal Registers Standard Interpretations. Respirator.

A half face particulate (air-purifying) mask is generally worn to protect the wearer from dust and paint fumes. A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling harmful dusts, fumes, vapors, or gases. Respirators come in a wide range of types and sizes used by the military, private industry, and the public. Respirators range from cheaper, single-use, disposable masks to reusable models with replaceable cartridges. There are two main categories: the air-purifying respirator, which forces contaminated air through a filtering element, and the air-supplied respirator, in which an alternate supply of fresh air is delivered. Within each category, different techniques are employed to reduce or eliminate noxious airborne contents. Early development of respirators[edit] Practically all the early respirators consisted of a bag placed completely over the head, fastened around the throat with windows through which the wearer could see.

Woodcut of Stenhouse's mask The U.S. Respiratory Protection. An estimated 5 million workers are required to wear respirators in 1.3 million workplaces throughout the United States. Respirators protect workers against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors, and sprays. These hazards may cause cancer, lung impairment, diseases, or death. Compliance with the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard could avert hundreds of deaths and thousands of illnesses annually. Respirators protect the user in two basic ways.

The first is by the removal of contaminants from the air. Respirators of this type include particulate respirators, which filter out airborne particles, and air-purifying respirators with cartridges/canisters which filter out chemicals and gases. This web page provides information on what respirators are, how they work, and what is needed for a respirator to provide protection.

Respiratory Protection - Training Videos. Training Videos This page contains links to a variety of training videos related to respiratory protection. Topics include fit testing, medical evaluations, respiratory protection in general industry, respirator types, voluntary use of respirators, respiratory protection in construction, training requirements, respiratory protection for healthcare workers, the differences between respirators and surgical masks, donning & doffing, counterfeit respirators, maintenance and care, and the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (1910.134). Many are offered in both English and Spanish. *Accessibility Assistance: Contact OSHA's Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management at (202) 693-2300 for assistance accessing PDF materials. All other documents, that are not PDF materials or formatted for the web, are available as Microsoft Office® formats and videos and are noted accordingly. **eBooks - EPUB is the most common format for e-Books.

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