Personal Protection Equipment Too Little

Three Oklahoma companies were fined by OSHA for allegedly failing to train employees and give them adequate gear for working inside confined spaces with unsafe air - resulting in proposed penalties totaling $427,500.

OSHA began its investigation of R Repair Kar, Seaboard Container Cleaning and 1st Odyssey Group in December, 2002 following complaints it received that employees were entering and performing work inside railcars without adequate respiratory equipment. Several employees have suffered long-term illnesses due to the exposure.

Three alleged willful violations were for failing to provide fall protection, failing to develop and implement an adequate respiratory protection program and failing to evaluate and implement permit required confined spaces as required by the OSHA regulations.

Too Much

Getting workers to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is hard enough, but it can sometimes be tougher to keep some employees from wearing “extra” PPE. Their rationale may be that they want to be sure they're protected, but this practice may do just the opposite by creating additional hazards and even hampering productivity.

Some examples of “extra” or inappropriate PPE could include the use of:

· gloves while operating or working near hazardous rotating machine parts;

· metatarsal guards during light-duty material handling jobs;

· respirators when employee exposures are well below permissible exposure limits;

· impervious chemical protective clothing for jobs involving exposure to nuisance dust or incidental contact with greasy parts.

Recognize when workers are wearing too much or inappropriate PPE as well as inadequate PPE. Keep in mind that changes in work activities can change PPE requirements. What was acceptable during an earlier task may not be acceptable now.

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