OSHA requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels. Employers are required to determine if PPE should be used to protect their workers.

If PPE is to be used, a PPE program should be implemented. This program should address the hazards present; the selection, maintenance, and use of PPE; the training of employees; and monitoring of the program to ensure its ongoing effectiveness.

PPE is addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals, and longshoring.

Standards

This section highlights OSHA standards, preambles to final rules (background to final rules), Federal Registers (rules, proposed rules, and notices), directives (instructions for compliance officers), standard interpretations (official letters of interpretation of the standards), and national consensus standards related to PPE.

OSHA

Note: Twenty-five states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement policies.

General Industry (29 CFR 1910)

• 1910.94, Ventilation [related topic page]


• 1910.95, Occupational noise exposure [related topic page]


• 1910.120, Hazardous waste operations and emergency response [related topic page]


• 1910.132, General requirements (Personal protective equipment) [related topic page]


• 1910.133, Eye and face protection [related topic page]


• 1910.134, Respiratory protection [related topic page]


• 1910.135, Head protection


• 1910.136, Foot protection


• 1910.137, Electrical protective devices


• 1910.138, Hand protection


• 1910 Subpart I - Appendix A, References for further information (Non-mandatory)


• 1910 Subpart I - Appendix B, Non-mandatory compliance guidelines for hazard assessment and personal protective equipment selection


• 1910.146, Permit-required confined spaces [related topic page]


• 1910.252, General requirements (Welding, cutting, and brazing) [related topic page]


• 1910 Subpart Z, Toxic and hazardous substances [related topic page]

Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915)

• 1915 Subpart I, Personal protective equipment

Marine Terminals (29 CFR 1917)

• 1917 Subpart E, Personal protection

Longshoring (29 CFR 1918)

• 1918 Subpart J, Personal protective equipment

Preambles to Final Rules

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for General Industry


• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Shipyard Employment


• Search all available preambles to final rules.

Federal Registers

• Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment; Final Rule. Final Rules 72:64341-64430, (2007, November 15). Stipulates that the employer must pay for required PPE, except in the limited cases specified in the standard. Safety-toe protective footwear and prescription safety glasses were excepted from the employer payment requirement, in large part because these items were considered to be very personal in nature and were often worn off the jobsite.


• Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment. Notice 69:41221-41225, (2004, July 8). Discusses the evidence currently in the record and presents a series of questions to assist the public in providing further information that would be helpful to OSHA.


• Employer Payment For Personal Protective Equipment. Proposed Rules 64:15401-15441, (1999, March 31). Suggests the employer's responsibility for payment of personal protective equipment costs.


• Personal Protective Equipment for Shipyard Employment (PPE). Final Rules 61:29957-29958, (1996, June 13). Makes corrections to the final rule on personal protective equipment for shipyard employment, which was published in the federal register on May 24, 1996 at 61 FR 26322.


• Personal Protective Equipment for Shipyard Employment (PPE). Final Rules 61:26321-26360, (1996, May 24). Discusses revisions of PPE standards for shipyard employment. 


• Personal Protective Equipment for General Industry. Final Rules 61:19547-19548, (1996, May 2).


• Personal Protective Equipment for Shipyard Employment. Proposed Rules 59:34586-34589, (1994, July 6). 


• Personal Protective Equipment for General Industry. Final Rules 59:33910-33911, (1994, July 1). Corrects the final rule on personal protective equipment for general industry.


• Personal Protective Equipment for General Industry. Final Rules 59:16334-16364, (1994, April 6). Discusses revisions of personal protective equipment standards.


• Search all available Federal Registers.

Directives

• 29 CFR Part 1910, Subpart I, Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry. CPL 02-01-050, (2011, February 10).


• Inspection Procedures for 29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65, Paragraph (q): Emergency Response to Hazardous Substance Releases. CPL 02-02-073, (2007, August 27). Also available as a 444 KB PDF, 119 pages. Updates enforcement procedures for compliance officers who need to conduct inspections of emergency response operations. Includes 29 CFR 1910.120(g)(3), Personal protective equipment selection; 1910.120(g)(5), Personal protective equipment (PPE) program, and 1910.120(q)(10), Chemical protective clothing. This OSHA instruction revises CPL 02-02-059, issued April 24, 1998.


• Enforcement Procedures for the Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens. CPL 02-02-069 [CPL 2-2.69], (2001, November 27).


• Respiratory Protection Program Guidelines. CPL 02-02-054 [CPL 2-2.54A], (2000, July, 14).


• Inspection procedures for the Respiratory Protection Standard. CPL 02-00-120 [CPL 2-0.120], (1998, September 25).


• Logging Operations, Inspection Procedures and Interpretive Guidance Including Twelve Previously Stayed Provisions. CPL 02-01-022 [CPL 2-1.22], (1996, September 27).


• Logging Operations, Inspection Procedures and Interpretive Guidance. CPL 02-01-019 [CPL 2-1.19], (1995, March 17).


• Exemption for Religious Reason from Wearing Hard Hats. STD 01-06-005 [STD 1-6.5], (1994, June 20).


• 29 CFR 1910.134(e)(5)-- Respirator Fit-Testing. CPL 02-02-029 [CPL 2-2.29], (1980, October 27).


• Inorganic Mercury and its Compounds. CPL 02-02-006 [CPL 2-2.6], (1978, October 30). Procedures regarding exposure to mercury in the workplace, including the use of personal protective equipment.


• Search all available directives.

Standard Interpretations

• Relevance of NFPA 70E industry consensus standards to OSHA requirements; whether OSHA requirements apply to owners. (2003, July 25). Discusses the relevance of NFPA 70E industry consensus standard to OSHA requirements.


• Interpretation of OSHA requirements for personal protective equipment to be used during marine oil spill emergency response operations. (1995, September 11). Discusses OSHA requirements for personal protective equipment to be used during marine oil spill emergency response operations.


• The application of the Personal Protective Equipment standard to PPE hazard assessment and training for laboratory and clinical health care workers. (1995, January 23). Discusses the application of 29 CFR 1910.132 to PPE hazard assessment and training for laboratory and clinical health care workers.


• OSHA regulations governing the use of personal protective equipment. (1976, December 2). Addresses OSHA regulations governing the use of personal protective equipment.


• Search all available standard interpretations.

National Consensus

Note: These are NOT OSHA regulations. However, they do provide guidance from their originating organizations related to worker protection.

National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA)

• 70, National Electric Code. (2008).


• 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. (2004).


• 1971, Standard on Protective Ensemble for Structural Firefighting and Proximity Firefighting. (2007).


• 1991, Standard on Vapor-Protective Ensembles for Hazardous Materials Emergencies. (2005).


• 1992, Standard on Liquid Splash-Protective Ensembles and Clothing for Hazardous Materials Emergencies. (2005).


• 1994, Standard on Protective Ensembles for First Responders to CBRN Terrorism Incidents. (2007).

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

• F 739-07, Standard Test Method for Permeation of Liquids and Gases through Protective Clothing Materials Under Conditions of Continuous Contact. (2007).


• F 903-03(2004), Standard Test Method for Resistance of Materials Used in Protective Clothing to Penetration by Liquids. (2004).


• F 1001-99a(2006), Standard Guide for Selection of Chemicals to Evaluate Protective Clothing Materials. (2006).

Construction

For information related to construction, see OSHA's Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - Construction page.

Hazards and Solutions

The following references aid in recognizing the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) and provides information about proper PPE selection and usage.

• Personal Protective Equipment. OSHA Publication 3151-12R, (2003). Also available as a 629 KB PDF, 46 pages. Discusses the types of equipment most commonly used to protect the head, torso, arms, hands, and feet. Additional topics include requirements, hazard assessment, selection, and employee training.


• Personal Protective Equipment [293 KB PDF^*, 2 pages]. OSHA Fact Sheet, (2006, April). Answers common PPE questions.


• Respiratory Protection [274 KB PDF^*, 42 pages]. OSHA Publication 3079, (Revised 2002).


• OSHA Technical Manual. OSHA Directive TED 01-00-015 [TED 1-0.15A], (1999, January 20).
  • Chemical Protective Clothing. Describes the various types of clothing that are appropriate for use in chemical operations and provides recommendations in their selection and use.
• Working Outdoors in Warm Climates [26 KB PDF^*, 2 pages]. OSHA Fact Sheet, (2005, September).


• Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment; Final Rule. OSHA Federal Register Final Rules 72:64341-64430, (2007, November 15). Stipulates that the employer must pay for required PPE, except in the limited cases specified in the standard. Safety-toe protective footwear and prescription safety glasses were excepted from the employer payment requirement, in large part because these items were considered to be very personal in nature and were often worn off the jobsite.


• Recommendations for Chemical Protective Clothing: A companion to the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards: Database. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), (1998, February). Provides chemical protective clothing guidelines for chemicals listed in the pocket guide.


• Emergency Response Resources. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Workplace Safety and Health Topic.
  • Personal Protective Equipment. Addresses respirators, protective clothing, latex allergy and eye safety.
  • Protective Clothing
  
  
• Personal Protective Technology. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Summaries reporting the illnesses, injuries and fatalities within the various industry sectors are described in the PPE strategies including agriculture, construction, health care, manufacturing, services, transportation, wholesale and retail trade, and mining.


• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). National Ag Safety Database (NASD).


• Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG). US Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Provides guidance for firefighters, police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the first to arrive at the scene of a transportation incident involving a hazardous material. This guidebook was developed jointly by the US Department of Transportation, Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico (SCT):


• Guide for the Selection of Personal Protection Equipment for Emergency First Responders, NIJ Guide 102–00 (Volumes I, IIa, IIb, and IIc). National Institute of Justice (NIJ), (2002, November). Provides information on personal protection equipment (PPE) for consideration by emergency first responders when purchasing and using PPE, including duration of protection, dexterity/mobility, launderability, and use/reuse.


• OSH Answers: Designing an Effective PPE Program. Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). Gives an overview of designing a personal protective equipment (PPE) program.


• Laboratory Safety. Environmental Health and Safety at Stony Brook University.
  • Personal Protective Equipment Selection Guide [63 KB PDF, 12 pages]. Assists with selecting the most appropriate personal protective equipment, with an emphasis on glove selection, for chemical hazards.

Evaluation

The following references aid in evaluating and improving personal protective equipment (PPE).

• Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment; Final Rule. OSHA Federal Register Final Rules 72:64341-64430, (2007, November 15). Stipulates that the employer must pay for required PPE, except in the limited cases specified in the standard. Safety-toe protective footwear and prescription safety glasses were excepted from the employer payment requirement, in large part because these items were considered to be very personal in nature and were often worn off the jobsite.


• Recommendations for Chemical Protective Clothing: A companion to the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards: Database. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), (1998, February). Provides chemical protective clothing guidelines for chemicals listed in the pocket guide.


• A Guide for Evaluating the Performance of Chemical Protective Clothing (CPC). US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 90-109, (1990, June). Includes selection and evaluation guidelines for protective clothing.


• The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL). Focuses expertise from many scientific disciplines to advance federal research on respirators and other personal protective technologies for workers. Also features links to PPE related topics.


• Respirators. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Additional Information

Related Safety and Health Topics Pages

• Eye and Face Protection


• Fall Protection


• Respiratory Protection

Training

• Small Business Handbook. OSHA Publication 2209-02R, (2005). Also available as a 260 KB PDF, 56 pages.
  • Personal Protective Equipment and Clothing
  
  
• Personal Protective Equipment [5 MB ZIP^*]. OSHA. Designed to assist trainers conducting OSHA 10-hour general industry outreach training for workers. Since workers are the target audience, these materials emphasize hazard identification, avoidance, and control - not standards.

Other Resources

• Walter F. "PPE Saves Lives [7 MB PDF^*, 52 pages]." OSHA Job Safety and Health Quarterly (JSHQ). 2002 Winter;13(2):34-7.