15.6: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Page ID
- 143283
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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
PPE does not eliminate a hazard. It only places a physical barrier between you and the danger.
Eye Protection (Mandatory Almost Everywhere)
Standard prescription eyeglasses are not safety glasses. College labs and most job sites require ANSI Z87.1 approved safety glasses with side shields.
- Standard Safety Glasses: Protect against flying debris, wood/metal chips, and minor impact.
- Chemical Splash Goggles: Required when handling liquids, acids, or solvents to prevent liquids from seeping around the sides.
Hearing Protection
If you have to raise your voice to speak to someone standing three feet away, the environment is loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage over time. Always wear foam earplugs or earmuffs when operating routers, grinders, or pneumatic tools.
The Glove Paradox: When NOT to Wear Gloves
While gloves protect against chemicals, burns, and sharp sheet metal edges, you must NEVER wear gloves while operating rotating machinery (such as drill presses, lathes, band saws, or grinders). If a glove touches a rotating spindle, the fabric can get caught and instantly drag your hand into the machine.
⚠ Watch Out - What You Don't Know Can Injure or Kill You
When a rocket engineering club at the University of Idaho tested an experimental rocket fuel, the accelerant exploded sending 4 students to the hospital. The students are out of surgery and recovering; initial reports following the explosion said three of the students were in stable condition and one was in critical condition. -Boise State Public Radio News, April 14, 2017
Insufficient PPE: While some team members wore basic eye protection, they lacked full blast face shields, flame-resistant apparel (FRC), and appropriate protective barriers required when working with potentially volatile compounds.
First Responders at the accident scene (Source: Public Domain / AI Generated)