OSHA Issues Revised Edition of Booklet on Personal Protective
Equipment    

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has 
released the latest edition of its booklet on personal protective 
equipment(PPE). The booklet discusses the types of equipment most 
commonly used for protection of the head, including eyes and  
ears, and the torso, arms, hands and feet. The publication  
stresses PPE should not be used as a substitute for engineering,  
work practice, and/or administrative controls but rather in  
conjunction with them. Employers also must be aware that PPE does 
not eliminate a hazard.  
  
The revised booklet spells out OSHA's position on cost assumption
for PPE by employers. The publication says that OSHA interprets
its standards as requiring employers to provide and pay for
company-required PPE for the worker to do his or her job safely
and in compliance with OSHA standards. Where equipment is  
personal in nature and usable by workers off the job, however,  
the matter of payment may be left to labor-management 
negotiations.  
  
The pamphlet also spells out five conditions under which  
respirators must be used: in regulated areas, in emergencies,  
where engineering and work practice controls are inadequate,  
where exposures exceed permissible limits, and during maintenance 
and repair activities or during brief or intermittent operations  
where engineering and work practice controls are not feasible or  
required.  
  
Also included are factors to be considered for selecting gloves
such as toxic properties of substances, how the gloves will be
used and their resistance to punctures, tears, or chemicals.  
  
A single free copy of the booklet may be obtained by sending a
self-addressed label to the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA/OSHA
Publications, P.O. Box 37535 Washington, DC 20013-7535. Telephone
(202) 219-4667, Fax (202) 219-9266.     

(OSHA press release Sept. 6, 1995)