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Personal Protective Equipment

When a hazard cannot be eliminated or controlled as required by T8 CCR, workers must be protected by personal protective equipment as follows:

A. Eye and face protection is required when there is an inherent risk of eye injury from flying particles, injurious chemicals, or harmful light rays. 3382

B. Foot protection is required for workers who are exposed to foot injury from hot, corrosive, or injurious substances; from falling objects; or from crushing or penetrating actions. Foot protection is also required for employees who work in abnormally wet locations. 3385

C. Hand protection is required for workers who are exposed to cuts, burns, electrical current, or harmful physical or chemical agents. 1520, 2320.2(a)

D. Body protection is required for workers who are exposed to injurious materials. These workers must wear appropriate body protection and clothing appropriate for their work. 1522(a)

1. Loose clothing, such as sleeves, ties, and cuffs, may not be worn around machinery in which it could become entangled. 1522(b)
   
2. Workers must not wear clothing saturated with flammable liquids or corrosive or oxidizing agents. 1522(c)
   

E. Hearing protection (HP) is required because the noise levels of many construction operations frequently exceed 90 dBA. When employees are subjected to sound levels listed in Table 3 (5096[b]), feasible administrative or engineering controls must be used. If these controls fail to reduce sound levels to an acceptable range, workers must wear hearing protection and be trained to properly use the HP devices.

F. Head protection is required for employees who are exposed to flying or falling objects or to electric shocks and burns. These employees must wear approved head protection. Hair must be confined if there is a risk of injury from entangling it in moving parts, combustibles, or toxic contaminants. 3381(a)

Note: Everyone at a construction site should wear hard hats with bills in the forward position.

G. Respiratory protection is required when engineering or operational controls are not feasible for limiting harmful exposure to airborne contaminants. In these circumstances exposed employees must wear respirators approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) or by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). 5144(a)

For all respirator use a written respiratory protection program must be in place, covering employee training, respirator selection, medical evaluation, fit testing, use, cleaning, sanitizing, inspection, and maintenance. 5144(a),(c)

Note: The health and safety fact sheet “Respirator Regulation” and the “The Guide to Respiratory Protection in the Workplace” are available online.

H. Personal flotation devices are required to be worn when working over or near water. 1602

I. Some of the SOs require specialized personal protective equipment (PPE) not mentioned here. Workers should refer to the specific SOs applicable to their work to determine additional PPE requirements.