What kinds of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) are there?

Personal protective equipment (PPE) can reduce the number and severity of injuries and illnesses. Personal protective equipment helps protect people and improves productivity and profits. Here are some helpful tips for using appropriate protective equipment when the job and its potential hazards call for it:

• Protect your head with a hard hat when performing construction work, trimming trees, repairing machinery, and doing other jobs with head injury risks. Hard hats are a must if there is any danger to the head!
• Use a sun safety hat (one with a wide brim and neck protection) to prevent skin cancer.
• Protect your vision with appropriate safety eyewear (safety glasses, goggles, face shields) when applying pesticides, and fertilizers, working in the shop, or heavy dust conditions.
• Protect your hearing with acoustic earmuffs or plugs when operating noisy equipment such as grain dryers, feed grinders, older tractors, chain saws, etc.
• Protect your lungs with the correct respiratory equipment (dust masks, cartridge respirators, gas masks, air pacts) when working in dusty or moldy conditions, spray painting, applying chemicals, working in bins, tanks, silos, and manure storage places.
• Protect your hands from everyday abuse with job-matched gloves and barrier creams.
• Protect your feet with safety shoes or boots with non-slip soles and heels.
• Protect your skin with impervious garments when using toxic or irritating chemicals. In addition, use sunscreen to protect against the sun’s harmful rays.