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Introduction:

Personal protective equpiment (PPE) is anything worn by a person to protect against hazards in the workplace or laboratory. These include: gloves, respirators, hearing protectors, face shields, lab coats, etc. PPE should be considered only after administrative and engineering controls have been applied. General guidelines for personal protective equipment are given in the Code of Federal Regulations 29 CFR 1910.132. Consult the Material Safety Date Sheet for PPE required for a specfic product you are using. In general, exposure should be controlled by other means such as containment, nonhazardous substitution, standard operating proceedures, elimination, local exaust or other engineering controls.

Laboratories:

1. All personnel in laboratories must wear chemical splash goggles that comply with ANZI standard Z87.1-1989 (compliance will be indicated in the vendor's catalog). We suggust indirectly vented chemical splash goggles coated with an anti-fog coating. For student use these should be comfortable (see: Lab Safety Supply product 9A-1109-2). The goggles must be sanitized after use or used by one individual only.

2. All personnel in laboratories should wear a chemical resistant lab coat or apron. If the Standard Opperating Proceedures decribed in this site are implemented a Tyvek® apron or lab coat is adequate protection for general laboratory use (see: SOPs).

3. When working with corrosives or moderately toxic chemicals personnel shold wear latex gloves. Anyone with a latex allergy should wear non-latex synthetic exam gloves (see: Lab Safety Supply product 9A-36763). Latex gloves are easily punctured or torn and are suggested for work with moderate risk such as with corrosives having a concentration of 6 M or less, with aqueous solutions of dilute nonvolatile carcinogens of low rsk and with moderate to low toxicity chemicals. Consult the MSDS for suggested glove use and other PPE required. Glove selection charts are available at the sites listed below.

4. All personnel must comply with the General Safety SOP.

5. Demonstrations may require a safety shield or a fumehood. (see: Demonstrations or Fumehoods).

6. Refer to the Standard Operating Procedues for guidelines for specific laboratory procedures.

Information Sources:

OSHA Regulations (Standards-29CFR) part 1910 Subpart I Personal Protective Equipment
Safeskin Corporation - glove selection chart
Best Manufacturing Company - glove selection guide
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
U Mass, Boston - glove guide
Respirator Fit Testing Procedure