Page 31 - PPE GUIDELINE

Guidelines on the Use of PPE Against Chemical Hazards

Respirators shall be stored in a manner that will protect them against physical and
chemical agents such as dirt, damaging chemicals, moisture, sunlight, temperature
extremes and mechanical damage or distortion. Respirators should be placed in a
clean, sealable plastic bag or container when not in use.

Limitations of Respirators

Respirators, as with other equipment, have certain limitations. Major limitations are:

1. Testing the effectiveness of the protection afforded by respirators is very difficult;

2. Difficult to get employees to wear because many respirators are uncomfortable to
wear, especially in hot environment or when they have to be worn for long periods
of time;

3. Employees often do not believe a hazard exist, especially when the chemicals do
not have odour or colour or the health effects take years to occur;

4. Obtaining good seal with the respirator can be difficult for some workers due to
facial contour or size, facial hairs, scars or significant deformities of the face;

5. Weight of certain respirators can reduce the ability of the worker to function his
work;

6. The poor ability of air-purifying elements to filter certain hazardous chemicals
reduces the effectiveness of a respirator;

7. Protection factor offered by certain respirators as determined by laboratory studies
may not be realised in the workplace;

8. Certification programme cannot be relied upon to ensure that a respirator will
offer a certain degree of protection to every worker.

3.2.4. Hand and Arm Protection

Types

There are various types of hand protection such as gloves, gauntlets, mitts, wrist cuffs,
and armlets. Gloves provide protection against:

Department of Occupational Safety & Health, Ministry of Human Resources, Malaysia ™October 2005 31