The term “personal protective equipment” (PPE) refers to a group of products (e.g. safety helmets, safety footwear and harnesses, eye protection, gloves, high-visibility clothing, etc.) designed with the aim to protect users against low-, medium- and high-level hazards.
There are eight types of personal protective equipment critical for the defense of users against hazards.
Head protection
It’s will help you avoid any harm that may come to you from falling materials or swinging objects. Moreover, the head protectors are designed to protect you from knocking against stationary objects.
Head Personal Protective Equipment e.g., Helmets; Hard hats; Bump Caps; Guards.
Activities related: Oil and gas works location, construction, work in tunnels, driving motorcycles.
Hand protection
Potential hazards to hands and arms include skin absorption of chemical or biological hazards, chemical or thermal burns, electric shock, bruises, abrasions, cuts, punctures, fractures, or amputations. Protective equipment includes gloves, finger guards, and arm coverings.
Examples of hand personal protective equipment e.g., Helmets; Hard hats; Bump Caps; Guards.: different types of work gloves and gauntlets; and wrist cuff arm nets.
Activities requiring hand personal protection equipment: construction and outdoor work; oil and gas works, chemicals and hazardous elements; manual handling of abrasive or sharp objects.
Eye and face protection
Selecting the most suitable eye and face protection should take into consideration the following elements:
- Ability to protect against specific workplace hazards
- Should fit properly and be reasonably comfortable to wear
- Should provide unrestricted vision and movement
- Should be durable and cleanable
- Should allow unrestricted functioning of any other required PPE
Injuries can be avoided simply by wearing the proper eye and face personal protection equipment. As examples of such PPE can be mentioned the following ones: Safety glasses and goggles; Eye and face shields; Eyewear accessories; Over specs; Visors.
Respiratory protection
Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) is a particular type of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), used to protect the individual wearer against the inhalation of hazardous substances in the workplace air. Respiratory Protective Equipment like breathing apparatus, full face or half-mask respirators, powered respirators, protective hoods, disposal face masks, detectors, monitors, etc. Adequate training on how users should use the equipment is always required.
Hearing protection
People should wear a hearing protector if the noise or sound level they are exposed to is close to or greater than the occupational exposure limits (OEL) for noise. For most jurisdictions, this occupational exposure limit is 85 decibels (A-weighted) or dBA.
Examples of hearing protection equipment:
- Earplugs and defenders;
- Noise meters;
- Communications sets;
- Acoustic foam.
Foot protection
The foot protection equipment is designed to protect the feet and legs against various hazards, such as extreme temperatures, crushing, piercing, slipping, cutting, chemicals and electricity.
As examples of foot protection equipment can be pointed out following ones:
- Safety Boots and shoes;
- Anti-static and conductive footwear.
Body protection
Some jobs require full-body protection, while others require only special protective clothing for the parts of the body exposed to possible injury.
Examples of body protection equipment:
- Life jackets;
- Clothing for specific weather conditions;
- High-visibility clothing;
- Harnesses, and others.
Height and access protection
The height and access protection equipment must be inspected periodically by a competent person to ensure it is still fit for use and the health and safety of users is not threatened in any way.
As examples of height and access protection equipment can be mentioned in the following ones:
- Fall-arrest systems;
- Body harnesses;
- Lowering harnesses;
- Rescue lifting;
- Energy absorbers, and others.
