Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Overview (US)

Some people think of personal protective equipment, or PPE, as a nuisance. Maybe it is uncomfortable, or maybe putting it on adds time to a task. All too often, people think “I’ll skip it just this once” or “nothing is going to happen to me.” Consider this case of a worker in a factory. He was repairing a chain on a pallet hand truck. He didn’t have his safety glasses on and didn’t want to stop to find them since he just needed to make a quick repair and move on. Within seconds of starting the repair, a metal rod shot out from the pallet truck. It embedded in his left eye. At the hospital, doctors did everything they could but were unable to repair the damage. The worker lost his eye. If you asked this worker if saving a few minutes on this task was worth losing an eye, what do you think he would say? Obviously it wasn’t worth it! We have no way of knowing when deciding not to wear PPE is going to result in an injury or even death. That’s why it is important to always wear the appropriate PPE for any task. You are taking this training so that you can recognize workplace hazards and identify the PPE you need to wear to protect yourself.