Personal protective equipment (PPE) protects the body from physical, chemical, electrical and biological hazards. Examples of workers exposed to these hazards are those in the construction, healthcare, laboratory, first responder, manufacturing and agricultural industries.
For PPE to offer protection, it must meet certain standards. Unfortunately, the market is heavily saturated with substandard and counterfeit PPE, which puts workers at high risk. Here is what to know:
What is substandard PPE?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces legal mandates and requires employers to provide employees with PPE to protect them from job-site hazards. OSHA relies on and references standards developed by various non-profit consensus organizations.
For instance, it requires many categories of PPE to meet or be equivalent to standards developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
OSHA also adopts standards developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), among others.
Each organization develops standards for particular equipment. For example, ANSI develops standards for eye and face protection, head protection and high-visibility safety apparel; NIOSH for respiratory protection equipment; AAMI for medical protective apparel; and NFPA for PPE used by firefighters, emergency responders, and industrial workers.
The ASTM develops voluntary testing methods and performance requirements for materials. The other agencies that develop standards use ASTM procedures to test and certify that PPE works as intended.
PPE materials and components that fail to meet established safety, regulatory or performance standards are considered substandard. They lack certification and often have material defects.
An employer is responsible for ensuring employees have PPE that meets OSHA regulations and fits properly. If you were harmed in the line of duty due to substandard PPE, get more information on how to protect your rights.