PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

AND DEVICES

RULE 1080
What does PPE stand for?

■ PPE stands for personal protective

equipment. PPE means any
device or appliance designed to
be worn or held by an individual
for protection against one or more
health and safety hazards.
Why should PPE only be used as a last
resort?
■ Personal protective equipment should be regarded as a last line of
defense. If PPE is not working or fitted properly, then the person
wearing it is exposed to the risk as this is the only (or last) protection
the wearer has against the particular hazard. It is much preferable to
remove or control the hazard, if this is practicable.
PPE includes:

■ respiratory equipment
■ protective clothing
■ Footwear
■ eye and face protection
■ noise protection
■ head protection
■ fall arrest systems
Some tasks which may require PPE are:

(1) working with corrosive chemicals

(2) working with toxic chemicals
(3) working with dusts
(4) working in hot or cold environments
(5) working in noisy environments
(6) working in high places
(7) Welding
(8) fire fighting
(9) rescue
PPE in the workplace:

■ The employer/management has to make an assessment of the

hazards in the workplace in order to identify the correct type of PPE to
be used and to ensure that PPE is appropriate to the risk.
■ It is the responsibility of the management to specify when protective
clothing and equipment are required and to provide them.
■ The worker then has the duty to use them.
■ If the worker is reluctant to do so, the management is responsible for
enforcing the use of PPE.
As an employee, do I have to wear PPE?

There is a duty on employees, having regard to their training and

instructions, to make correct use of PPE. Employees should:
■ Use PPE properly whenever it is required to be used.
■ Report any defects in or damage to the PPE immediately.
■ Participate in any training or instruction provided on PPE.
■ Inform their employer of any medical conditions they have that might
be affected by the use of the PPE provided to them.
ACCIDENT REPORTS
 Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company
At approximately 4:45 a.m. on January 24, 2006, an accident occurred at The Tesoro
Golden Eagle Refinery located in Martinez, California. The day before the accident, the unit
operator noticed that Vessel Number 618 was draining very slowly. The unit operator notified
Employee #1 who was working the night shift from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., of the extended drain times.
While draining Vessel Number 618, Employee #1 heard a rumbling sound coming from the tank,
and then liquid shot out of the drain, spraying him. He was wearing safety glasses but not a face
shield or splash goggles. The liquid that sprayed Employee # 1 was a high pH caustic liquid.
Employee # 1 was temporarily blinded and had to be assisted to the safety shower and eyewash
facility by his coworkers. Employee # 1 was admitted to Doctors Hospital in San Pablo and
treated for six days in a hyperbaric chamber and received saline eye flushes. For the first three
days he could not see, and the next three he had very blurry vision. An analysis of the accident
indicated that it may have been prevented if the draining operation had been converted to a
completely closed system. Injury to the employee could have been prevented if he had been
wearing appropriate PPE, such as a face shield or chemical splash goggles.
Sparko Electric Inc

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on November 28, 2007, Employee #1 was working as a foreman
for an electrical contractor that was installing panels, transformers, and lighting into a newly-
constructed single-story commercial building in Hawthorne, CA. At the time of the accident, he was
completing the installation of electrical panels in the building's electrical meter room. Employee #1 was
apparently working alone and he was discovered by coworkers on the ground in the panel room, next to
a 480-volt pull panel from which the cover had been removed. The coworkers contacted Emergency
Services. One of the firemen later stated that the 480-volt pull panel was energized and that one
energized conductor was hanging loose in the panel. Employee #1 was transported to the Little
Company of Mary Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:55 p.m. The County of Los Angeles
Coroner's report listed the cause of death as electrocution, from contact with energized electrical
equipment due to the lack of proper work procedures, safeguards, and barriers, and the lack of
personal protective equipment. The employer was cited for a violation, regulatory, of T8CCR 342(a), for
failing to report a serious accident; for a violation, general, of T8CCR 1509(b), for the lack of a code of
safe practices for electrical work; and an accident-related violation, serious, of T8CCR 2320.2(a), for
work on energized equipment without proper procedures.