Subpart I - Personal Protective Equipment (29 CFR 1915.152)

Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

§ 1915.152

personal fall protection equipment, and
life saving equipment, meeting the applicable provisions of this subpart,
wherever employees are exposed to
work activity hazards that require the
use of PPE.
(b) Hazard assessment and equipment.
The employer shall assess its work activity to determine whether there are
hazards present, or likely to be
present, which necessitate the employee’s use of PPE. If such hazards are
present, or likely to be present, the
employer shall:
(1) Select the type of PPE that will
protect the affected employee from the
hazards identified in the occupational
hazard assessment;
(2) Communicate selection decisions
to affected employees;
(3) Select PPE that properly fits each
affected employee; and
(4) Verify that the required occupational hazard assessment has been performed through a document that contains the following information: occupation, the date(s) of the hazard assessment, and the name of the person performing the hazard assessment.

connecting other components of a personal fall arrest system to the anchorage.
Lower levels means those areas or surfaces to which an employee can fall.
Such areas or surfaces include but are
not limited to ground levels, floors,
ramps, tanks, materials, water, excavations, pits, vessels, structures, or
portions thereof.
Personal fall arrest system means a
system used to arrest an employee in a
fall from a working level. It consists of
an anchorage, connectors, body belt or
body harness and may include a lanyard, a deceleration device, a lifeline,
or a suitable combination of these. As
of January 1, 1998, the use of a body
belt for fall arrest is prohibited.
Positioning device system means a body
belt or body harness system rigged to
allow an employee to be supported at
an elevated vertical surface, such as a
wall or window, and to be able to work
with both hands free while leaning.
Qualified person means a person who
by possession of a recognized degree or
certificate of professional standing, or
who, by extensive knowledge, training,
and experience, has successfully demonstrated the ability to solve or resolve problems related to the subject
matter and work.
Restraint (tether) line means a line
from an anchorage, or between anchorages, to which the employee is secured
in such a way as to prevent the employee from walking or falling off an
elevated work surface. Note: A restraint line is not necessarily designed
to withstand forces resulting from a
fall.
Rope grab means a deceleration device which travels on a lifeline and
automatically, by friction, engages the
lifeline and locks so as to arrest the
fall of an employee. A rope grab usually employs the principle of inertial
locking, cam/level locking or both.

NOTE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (b): A hazard assessment conducted according to the trade or occupation of affected employees will be considered to comply with paragraph (b) of this
section, if the assessment addresses any
PPE-related hazards to which employees are
exposed in the course of their work activities.
NOTE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (b): Non-mandatory
appendix A to this subpart contains examples of procedures that will comply with the
requirement for an occupational hazard assessment.

(c) Defective and damaged equipment.
Defective or damaged PPE shall not be
used.
(d) Reissued equipment. The employer
shall ensure that all unsanitary PPE,
including that which has been used by
employees, be cleaned and disinfected
before it is reissued.
(e) Training. (1) The employer shall
provide training to each employee who
is required, by this section, to use PPE
(exception: training in the use of personal fall arrest systems and positioning device systems training is covered in §§ 1915.159 and 1915.160). Each
employee shall be trained to understand at least the following:
(i) When PPE is necessary;

§ 1915.152 General requirements.
(a) Provision and use of equipment. The
employer shall provide and shall ensure
that each affected employee uses the
appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the eyes, face, head, extremities, torso, and respiratory system, including protective clothing,
protective shields, protective barriers,

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§ 1915.153

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–05 Edition)

(ii) What PPE is necessary;
(iii) How to properly don, doff, adjust, and wear PPE;
(iv) The limitations of the PPE; and,
(v) The proper care, maintenance,
useful life and disposal of the PPE.
(2) The employer shall ensure that
each affected employee demonstrates
the ability to use PPE properly before
being allowed to perform work requiring the use of PPE.
(3) The employer shall retrain any
employee who does not understand or
display the skills required by paragraph (e)(2) of this section. Circumstances where retraining is required include, but are not limited to,
situations where:
(i) Changes in occupation or work
render previous training obsolete; or
(ii) Changes in the types of PPE to be
used render previous training obsolete;
or
(iii) Inadequacies in an affected employee’s knowledge or use of assigned
PPE indicate that the employee has
not retained the requisite understanding or skill.
(4) The employer shall verify that
each affected employee has received
the required training through a document that contains the following information: name of each employee
trained, the date(s) of training, and
type of training the employee received.

employee uses appropriate eye or face
protection where there are exposures
to eye or face hazards caused by flying
particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acid or caustic liquids, chemical
gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation.
(2) The employer shall ensure that
each affected employee uses eye or face
protection that provides side protection when there is a hazard from flying
objects. Detachable side protectors
(e.g., a clip-on or slide-on side shield)
meeting the pertinent requirements of
this section are acceptable.
(3) The employer shall ensure that
each affected employee who wears prescription lenses while engaged in operations that involve eye hazards wears
eye protection that incorporates the
prescription in its design, unless the
employee is protected by eye protection that can be worn over prescription
lenses without disturbing the proper
position of either the PPE or the prescription lenses.
(4) The employer shall ensure that
each affected employee uses equipment
with filter lenses that have a shade
number that provides appropriate protection from injurious light radiation.
Table I–1 is a listing of appropriate
shade numbers for various operations.
If filter lenses are used in goggles worn
under a helmet which has a lens, the
shade number of the lens in the helmet
may be reduced so that the shade numbers of the two lenses will equal the
value as shown in Table I–1, § 1915.153.

[61 FR 26352, May 24, 1996; 61 FR 29957, June
13, 1996, as amended at 67 FR 44543, July 3,
2002]

§ 1915.153 Eye and face protection.
(a) General requirements. (1) The employer shall ensure that each affected

TABLE I–1—FILTER LENSES FOR PROTECTION AGAINST RADIANT ENERGY
Operations

Electrode size 1⁄32 in.

Arc current

Minimum
protective
shade

Shielded metal arc welding ...............

Less than 3 ......................................
3–5 ...................................................
5–8 ...................................................
More than 8 .....................................
..........................................................
..........................................................

Less than .........................................
60 .....................................................
60–160 .............................................
160–250 ...........................................
250–550 ...........................................
Less than .........................................

7
8
10
11
....................
7

..........................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................
..........................................................

60 .....................................................
60–160 .............................................
160–250 ...........................................
250–500 ...........................................
Less than .........................................
50 .....................................................
50–150 .............................................
150–500 ...........................................

10
10
10
....................
8
8
10
....................

Gas metal arc welding and flux
cored arc welding.

Gas Tungsten arc welding ................

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