Page 40 - PPE GUIDELINE

Guidelines on the Use of PPE Against Chemical Hazards

Chapter 4

PPE PROGRAMME

For personal protective equipment to be effective as a control measure it must be
consolidated as a programme and managed properly. A programme on personal
protective equipment should consist of the following elements:

Selection of personal protective equipment
Issuance of personal protective equipment & fit testing
Information, instruction & training
Proper use & Supervision
Inspection, Storage, Availability & Maintenance
Disposal
Record keeping
Review of programme
Workers responsibilities

4.1. Selection of Personal Protective Equipment

4.1.1 Medical Evaluation of Employees Required to Use Respirators

Before employees are required to wear respirators a medical evaluation need to be
conducted by a medical practitioner to determine whether the employee is fit to wear
a respirator taking into consideration his health conditions. A sample medical
evaluation questionnaire is given in Appendix 2.

4.1.2 Assessment of Risks

Before personal equipment is selected for use, an assessment should be carried out to
determine whether the equipment to be provided is suitable. This assessment should
ensure that hazards and risks of the work processes are clearly identified. The
assessment should include the assessment of risk or risks involved; the types of
protection required to adequately protect against the risk or risks identified, and
assessment of the risk posed by the equipment itself.

Assessing the risk will involve the identification of type of hazard present and the
assessment of the degree of risk. The type of personal protective equipment to be
selected depends on the types of hazard present, the parts of the body endangered and
the degree of protection required.

Department of Occupational Safety & Health, Ministry of Human Resources, Malaysia ™October 2005 40