What PPE Is and What It Does
The types of personal protective equipment, how each one protects, and its limits.
8 min
Activities: 0 of 2
Equipment you wear
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is any equipment a person wears or holds to protect themselves from a hazard at work. A helmet, safety glasses, earplugs, gloves, safety boots, a respirator and a harness are all PPE. Ordinary work clothes and uniforms are not PPE unless they are designed to protect against a hazard, such as flame-resistant coveralls.
PPE works by putting a barrier between the hazard and the body, or by reducing how much of the hazard reaches it. The helmet takes the blow, the glove stops the blade, the earplug reduces the sound. If the barrier is missing, damaged or the wrong type, the hazard reaches the body.
The main types of PPE
Industrial helmets protect from falling objects and impact. Bump caps protect only from minor knocks.
Two examples
Example 1: the barrier worked. Yousef was cutting a steel strap when it sprang back towards his face. His safety glasses took the hit. He had a small scratch on the lens and no injury to his eye.
Example 2: the wrong barrier. Rana wore safety spectacles while pouring a cleaning chemical. A splash went over the top of the spectacles and into her eye. Spectacles protect against flying particles, not splashes. She needed sealed goggles. She was treated at once with an eyewash and recovered, but the right PPE would have prevented the injury.
Which of these is personal protective equipment?
Match the PPE to the hazard
- Industrial helmet
- Earplugs
- Sealed goggles
- Respirator