Title: Personal Protective Gear and Equipment
Course: 2016FA-MCO-110-401 > Section: Module 6: Safety and Security

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Personal Protective Gear (PPG) / Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal Protective Gear (PPG) or Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are commons terms that refer to anything an operator wears or uses to minimize risk of injury from safety hazards.  Note that we say minimize instead of prevent, because there is nothing that absolutely removes all chance of injury.  If PPE is not worn properly, or in the event of extreme conditions, injury is still possible.  The point is: just because you wear recommended or required PPE, you should never relax and assume you do not have to think about safety hazards anymore.

Ear Plugs / Ear Muffs

Ear plugs are PPE inserted into the ear itself to muffle hazardous sound levels.  They are typically of a moldable material that expands to better fit individual ear shapes.  Ear muffs are worn over the head and cover the entire ear, having the ability to block out even more sound.  Recall that sound waves are a form of pressure, so although we measure sound in volume, it is the increased pressure from loud sounds that will injure parts of the ear.  Double hearing protection (plugs and muffs) may be required depending upon the situation.  There are many different levels of hearing protection based on sustained noise level exposure versus peak levels, so it is extremely important for MCO personnel to understand what regulations are applicable to their working environment.

Hard Hats

The easiest way to protect from falling hazards is to wear your hard hat!  Particularly if any amount of construction or other overhead work is going on, it is sometimes impossible not to have to transit under these activities.  Hard hats are made of a protective shell that is suspended above your head by the harness.  This provides a strong surface for falling objects to hit (not your head), as well as a cushioning action to absorb some of the force.  Hard hats need to be inspected regularly and worn properly.  Sustained exposure to UV light (working outside) can degrade the shell material.  Hard hats should also generally be replaced if you have had something fall on them – even if they don’t look damaged.

Eye Protection

Eye protection comes in several forms.  Regular safety glasses are rated for strength based upon the material of the lens, and protect from flying objects, shavings, etc., entering your eyes.  Goggles – or modified safety glasses – make contact with your face around your eyes and are used to prevent liquids and gasses from getting in your eyes.  Special, highly shaded glasses or helmets are used for activities like welding where extremely bright light sources exist.

Gloves

Gloves protect against many common hazards, but it is important to ensure you match the hazard to the application.  Rubber/latex gloves are appropriate when dealing with chemicals, oils, greases, etc.  General work gloves help to ensure grip on tools, equipment and structures.  Padded work gloves may be appropriate to absorb large amounts of movement.  Cut resistant work gloves are appropriate when dealing with sharp objects/tools or working around sharp edges like sheet metal.

Steel Toe Footwear

Steel toe footwear is a common requirement in most industrial settings.  Ideally, you would like to have leather shoes/boots to prevent from cuts as well.  Advances in material technology have created composites that have similar crush resistant properties as the traditional steel toe and are generally acceptable as well.  The need for special soles – such as slip resistant and/or electrically rated – should be evaluated as well, although good work boots tend to have all of these properties.

Gowning Up and Gowning Down

We refer to Gowning Up / Gowning Down or Donning / Doffing PPE as the order/method in which PPE should be put on and removed.  The easiest way the think about it is from a contaminated substance example.  Working in reverse, you want to remove the most [likely] contaminated articles first, so that when you ultimately come in contact with your skin or undergarments, you are less likely to containment yourself.  When donning multiple articles/layers of PPE, keep this in mind so you don’t overlap items incorrectly and prevent proper doffing.

Objectives met:
- C6
- 6.4