Personal Protective Equipment

Suitable eye or face protection is required to be worn when there is a potential for exposure to the eyes or face from potential hazards including but not limited to: flying particles, splashes and droplets, chemicals, dust and small particles, and potentially injurious light radiation.

There are four classes of eye and face protection: safety glasses, face shields, goggles, and welding helmets. The type of protection is determined by the type and degree of the hazard and is required to comply with ANSI 787.1-2015 “American National Standard Practice for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection”.

Employees whose vision requires the use of corrective lenses and whose job duties require eye protection, the employee must wear safety glasses, goggles, or a full face shield that can be worn over the prescriptive lenses. Alternatively, some departments provide vouchers to purchase prescription safety glasses. Prescription safety glasses need to be in accordance with ANSI 787.1-2015. Check with your department for more details.

Safety glasses must be worn when entering any construction site on all UT Austin campuses.

Skin and body protection must be worn when there is a potential for contamination or exposure to parts of the body (e.g. legs, arms, back, chest) from heat, splashes from hot metals or liquids, impacts cuts, chemicals, and radiation.

Body protection includes:

Boot covers; Aprons; Bouffant caps; Tyvek suits; and Coveralls.

Foot protection is required when there is a potential for injury to the feet from falling or rolling objects, objects piercing the sole of the foot, electrical hazards, hot surfaces, and slippery surfaces. Foot protection shall comply with ASTM F2412-05 or F2413-05 as referenced in OSHA 29 CFR 1910.136.

Where a hazard is created from a process, environment, chemical, or mechanical irritant which would cause an injury or impairment to the feet by absorption or physical contact, other than from impact, footwear, such as boots, overshoes, rubbers, wooden-soled shoes, or their equivalent, shall be used.

Examples of situations which may require the use of protective footwear include:

Handling heavy objects and/or tools that could be dropped. Work activities involving manual material handling carts, heavy pipes, or bulk rolls, all of which could potentially roll over an employee's feet. Work involving sharp objects such as nails, tacks, large staples, scrap metal, etc., which could penetrate the sole of the shoe.

Some departments may provide vouchers to purchase safety shoes/boots. Check with your department for more details.

Closed toe shoes must be worn when entering any construction site on all UT Austin campuses. Often, contractors have requirements for protective toe shoes.

Hardhats are required to be worn in areas where this a potential for injury to the head from impact, flying or falling objects (e.g. working below other workers who are using tools and materials that could fall) or electrical shock and burns.

Hardhats should comply with the “American National Standard for Personal Protection – Protective Headwear for Industrial Workers Requirements” (ANSI) Z89.1.2014.

Hardhats must be worn when entering any construction site on all UT Austin campuses.

There are a variety of gloves that are made for a specific use. There is no one glove that protects against all hazards since chemical resistance varies by glove material. A PPE risk assessment should be completed to evaluate what hazards or potential hazards are present to be able to choose which type of glove that will protect the user. It is important to remember that procedures and tasks may have different hazards during each step of a process and may need multiple types of gloves to safely conduct their task.

Determining the Appropriate Gloves to Use

Resources

Ansell Protective Products Inc. Chemical Hand Protection Guide

• Use: Rates each glove by permeation and degradation resistance by chemical selected.

Cole-Parmer

• Use: Provides glove compatibility results based on the chemical selected.

MAPA Professional

• Use: Search for gloves based on type of protection, environment, description, and norms.

Microflex

• Use: Rates chemical resistance for Latex, Nitrile, and NeoPro gloves.

North by Honeywell Chemical Resistance Guide (PDF)

• Use: Rates each glove by physical and chemical performance.

Lab coats used to protect against routine contamination from hazardous biological and chemical materials should be cleaned. Lab coats should never be taken home to be cleaned, you must use appropriate lab related laundry equipment on campus (if available) or you must use a commercial laundry service. For more information refer to the Lab Coat Laundry Service page.

All personnel (faculty, staff, and students) in research and teaching laboratories are required to wear the appropriate clothing and PPE. For more information see UT Austin’s Laboratory Attire Policy (PDF).

UT Austin employees who have the potential for exposure to high levels of noise during their work activities may be required to wear hearing protection such as earplugs or earmuffs. EHS or the department safety representative will conduct an assessment to determine if hearing protection is necessary.

 For more information, visit UT Austin’s Hearing Protection Program page.

All UT Austin employees (faculty, staff, and students) are required to wear a respirator if the following circumstances are determined:

An exposure assessment indicates that an inhalation hazard exists over the occupational exposure limit and requires respiratory protection; or A job description, standard operating procedure, or emergency operating procedure requires a respirator to be worn.

For more information regarding respiratory protection, training, and other resources, visit the Respiratory Protection page

All UT Austin employees (faculty, staff, students) that are working at heights 4 feet and above and who are not working on a ladder, are required to wear fall protection on all UT Austin campuses. For more information regarding fall protection, training, and other requirements, visit the Fall Protection page. For specific questions, contact EHS or your Departmental Safety Representative.

Contractors should follow their company’s fall protection program and its requirements.