SAFETY SOLUTIONS: Personal Protection - Storage, Maintenance and Care

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132 requires all employers to provide personnel protective equipment including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers.

This equipment shall be used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation or physical contact. Depending on the occupational safety and health hazards encountered while performing assigned job tasks, your employer may require you to use properly fitting personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid injuries and illnesses.

Some of the most common types of PPE are:

• Eye protection
• Face protection
• Hearing protection
• Head protection
• Hand protection
• Foot protection
• Respiratory protection

Each of the above is designed to provide a certain level of protection if used and cared for as intended by the manufacturer. One of the factors, which help maintain the level of protection, is that the device is kept in a clean and sanitary manner. Usually, unless otherwise directed by the manufacturer, this entails washing the components of the device in warm water with a mild detergent on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly as conditions warrant).

If more than one person shares the safety device, it must be cleaned and sanitized after each use.

Cleaning and sanitizing will do no good, however, if the device is not properly stored in-between uses. For instance, safety glasses or face shields which are left out in the open in a dusty or otherwise contaminated environment will become dirty and may compound an injury rather than prevent it (dust falls into eyes from unclean safety glasses). Or a respirator fitted with an organic cartridge, left out on a workbench, will become ineffective as the cartridge absorbs contaminants from the atmosphere.

Most of the devices noted above can be safely stored in resealable plastic bags, clean cans with lids or storage cupboards with tight-fitting doors.

Personal protective equipment should be inspected frequently according to the manufacturer’s recommendation and any defective parts or devices immediately removed from service until repaired and in good operating condition. Should you have any questions concerning personal protective equipment, please feel free to write me.

Stay safe.

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