Introduction
Personal protective equipment is used in order to protect ourselves when working with chemical hazards. Common examples of personal protective equipment include: lab coats, footwear, gloves, safety goggles and glasses, face shields, hard hats and respirators.
1. Lab Coat
The primary purpose of a lab coat is to protect against splashes and spills.
- A lab coat should be Non-flammable and should be easily removed.
- Lab coats should be buttoned when in use.
- Rubber coated aprons can be worn to protect against chemical splashes and may be worn over a lab coat for additional protection.
- We should not wear lab coats, gloves, or other personal protective clothing outside of lab areas. This clothing may become contaminated and could spread the contamination.
- We should avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing, tie back long hair, and remove loose jewelry to prevent their getting caught in moving or rotating parts or coming into contact with hazardous chemicals.
- Chemical fumes may react with some jewelry, such as pearls, and ruin them.
- Cotton clothing is preferable to wool, nylon, or polyester.
- Personal apparel should be appropriate for laboratory work.
- We should wear clothing to lab that we don’t care if it gets dirty.
2. Footwear
- Leather shoes which completely cover the toes, heel and top of foot provide the best general protection.
- The shoes must be made of water proof materials.
- The shoe must have a nonslip sole firmly attached to the foot.
- Sandals, sneakers, perforated shoes, open-toed shoes etc. do not provide adequate protection in case of spills, or when handling heavy objects that might fall onto the feet.
- If work is going to be performed with heavy machinery, steel-reinforced safety shoes may be required.
- Safety shoes specially designed to provide protection against extreme temperatures, caustic chemicals, or electrical hazards should be worn on requirement.
3. Gloves
- When handling chemical, physical, or biological hazards that can enter the body through the skin, it is important to wear the proper protective gloves.
- Butyl, neoprene, and nitrile gloves are resistant to most chemicals, e.g., alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, most inorganic acids, and most
caustics. - Disposable latex and vinyl gloves protect against some chemicals, most aqueous solutions and reduce risk of product contamination.
- Leather and some knit gloves will protect against cuts, abrasions, and scratches, but not against chemicals.
- Temperature-resistant gloves
protect against cryogenic liquids, flames, and high temperatures. - Kevlar gloves will provide good protection from extreme temperatures.
- Cotton gloves provide a better grip when working with heavy machinery.
- Leather gloves provide good protection when working with flames or when sparks may be present.
- Metal mesh gloves are preferred when working with heavy machinery or cutting tools.
4. Eyewear
- Safety goggles provide the best protection against chemical splashes, vapors, dusts, and mists.
- Eye wear is required to be worn any time projectile objects are being used in the laboratory.
- Contact lenses should not be worn during any investigations using chemicals (even if you are wearing goggles). In the event of an accident, chemicals can get behind contact lenses and cause serious damage before the lenses can be removed.
- If using contact lenses instead of glasses, then eye-cup safety goggles should be worn in the lab.
- Ultraviolet (UV) absorbing protective safety glasses should be worn while working with ultraviolet light.
5. Face Shields
- A face shield should be worn whenever the entire face needs protection (e.g., high pressure work, welding, soldering, machining, fire, explosion, etc.).
- Face shields can protect against impact, dust, particulates, and splashes to the face, eyes, and throat.
- Safety goggles should be worn underneath a face shield for maximal protection.
6. Respirators
- Respirators filter contaminants, either small airborne particles or chemicals including gases.
- Respirators must be regularly cleaned, sanitized and maintained.