Personal protective equipment will be provided and used wherever it is necessary to protect workers from the potential hazards in their workplace. In cases where employees provide their own protective equipment, the department will be responsible to ensure its adequacy, maintenance and cleanliness.
1. Protective equipment will meet the following minimum requirements:
a. Provide adequate protection against the hazard(s) for which it was designed.
b. Be reasonably comfortable when worn under the designated conditions.
c. Fit snugly and comfortably, and will not interfere with the movements of the worker. Safety equipment worn too tight will not protect the worker from the hazard(s).
d. Made of durable materials.
e. Capable of being cleaned and disinfected.
2. Personal protective equipment will comply with the standards of all recognized authorities, including the American National Safety Institute (ANSI) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
3. Protective devices will be maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition at all times. Safety devices, including protective clothing worn by employees, will not be interchanged between employees until properly cleaned. When ordinary cleaning can not remove the risk of infection, additional precautionary measures may be required.
1. Protective clothing may be required for employees whose work exposes parts of their body, not otherwise protected as required by other sections of this chapter, to hazardous substances or objects.
2. Clothing and protective clothing appropriate for the work being done will be worn at all times. This may include laboratory coats, raincoats, aprons, full jump suits, bright reflective vests, etc.
3. Clothing will be clean and serviceable.
1. Ear protection devices will be provided by the University and worn when administrative and engineering controls do not reduce noise hazards to acceptable levels.
2. All supervisors whose employees are engaged in hazardous noise operations will be responsible for insuring workers wear approved hearing protection devices (ear plugs or muffs).
3. Each employee must wear appropriate hearing protection whenever exposed to hazardous noise. Workers can estimate a hazardous noise area if they find it difficult to hear a loud voice at a distance of 1 foot.
4. Ear muff-type hearing protection devices are generally recommended. However, earplugs may be worn if fitted by competent persons. Risk Management and Environmental Health & Safety can provide assistance in this area.
5. Hearing protection devices should be washed and inspected on a periodic basis to prevent ear infections. Earplugs can be washed using any dish soap and water and allowing them to dry before use or storing. The rubber seals on earmuffs should be inspected periodically to ensure they are pliable and clean.
1. Employees and students working in locations where eye hazards are present due to flying particles, hazardous substances, heat, sparks, or injurious light rays, will be provided with eye protection. This eye protection may be in the form of impact-resistant glasses, goggles, face shields, or shields/screens.
2. The University will provide eye and face protection for employees as needed. Students may be required to provide their own eye protective devices if not available from the University. Both the employee and student will wear eye protection in eye-hazardous areas.
3. All campus visitors who enter eye-hazardous areas will be provided with proper eye protection for their visit only.
4. Face and eye protective devices will be cleaned on a periodic basis (weekly) and inspected to insure equipment is in good repair. Devices in need of repair will not be used until defects are corrected.
5. Protection will be taken against radiant energy when welding, burring or cutting. The use of welding type filter lenses must be appropriate for the type of work performed.
6. Full face shields or hoods with shields, combined with chemical splash goggles will be worn when exposed to or hazardous liquid substances.
7. Transparent shields or barricades may be used when performing laboratories that are potentially dangerous. However, even if a shield or barricade is utilized, the person must also wear adequate personal protective equipment; i.e. eye and face protection and/or aprons.
1. Appropriate foot protection will be required for employees who are exposed to possible foot injuries from 1) hot, corrosive, or poisonous substances; 2) falling objects; 3) crushing or penetrating actions, or; 4) abnormally wet locations.
2. Footwear that is defective or inappropriate will not be worn.
3. Full-coverage type safety, work or dress shoes must be worn in all shops, laboratories and other areas that are designated as foot hazardous areas. Open type, high heel, soft leather or canvas shoes will not be worn in these areas.
1. Protection for the hands may be required for employees and students whose work involves unusual and excessive exposure to cuts, burns, cold, heat or corrosive, irritating, allergenic or other harmful substances. The University will provide all such required hand protection.
2. The department will exercise great care in the supervision of employees with relation to the wearing of gloves when working around machinery. The wearing of gloves by a machine operator is not advisable since the gloves may become entangled in moving parts. When the worker requires protection from vibration, he or she may wear gloves.
3. Employees performing industrial work should equip themselves with general-purpose gloves for hand protection against various hazards. Cotton or fabric gloves are suitable for protection against dirt, slivers, chafing or abrasions. Leather gloves are more effective in resisting moderate heat, chips and rough objects. Special-purpose gloves such as chrome-tanned leather gloves for welders, rubber, chemical-resistant gloves, etc., should also be considered.
4. Generally, the recommended glove types for chemicals are: vinyl plastic, neoprene, and rubber. Consult the manufacturer's specifications of gloves, as each glove is not satisfactory for all chemicals.
1. Employees working in areas where there is a possible danger of head injury from impact, falling or flying objects or electrical shock, will be provided protective helmets and will wear them appropriately.
2. Helmets for protection against impact and penetration of falling or projected objects will meet ANSI Standard, Industrial Head Protection guidelines. Helmets for protection against electrical shock will meet applicable ANSI standards.
1. Approved safety harnesses and lifelines will be worn by employees who work in excess of 6 feet from the ground or floor and no other protective device is available to prevent falls. Lifelines will be secured to a substantial member of the structure or to securely rigged lines, using a positive-descent control device.
2. If a worker's duties require horizontal movement, rigging will be used so that the attached lifeline will slide along with him.
3. Lifelines and safety harnesses will only be used for employee safety. Any lifeline or safety harness used in an actual emergency will be removed from service and never used as a lifeline again.
4. Lifelines will be capable of supporting a minimum dead weight of 5400 pounds.
5. Lifelines subject to fraying or damage will be protected and have a wire rope center.
6. Where the work elevation is 25 feet or more above the floor or ground and when the use of safety harnesses and lifelines are impractical, safety nets may be used.
Any person required to wear a respirator will comply with the written Respiratory Protection Program in Supplement II. A respirator is a personal protective device used to protect the wearer from inhalation of harmful levels of airborne contaminants. The use of respirators is acceptable only when engineering or work practice controls (e.g., local exhaust ventilation) are inadequate or not feasible, or while these controls are being designed or constructed. Respirators must be carefully selected, properly fitted, regularly inspected and cleaned, and repaired when broken. Wearers must be medically evaluated for respirator use and trained in the appropriate use, care, maintenance and limitations of respiratory protective devices. Work area environments must be periodically evaluated to determine the appropriate level of respiratory protection necessary.