Personal protective equipment

 Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing,

such as gloves, goggles, or other garments or equipment
designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection.
 The hazards addressed by protective equipment include
physical, electrical, heat, chemicals, biohazards, and
airborne particulate matter
The purpose of personal protective equipment is to reduce
employee exposure to hazards when engineering controls and
administrative controls are not feasible or effective to reduce these
risks to acceptable levels.
Types of personal protective equipment
 Respiratory protection - for example, Masks and
respirators.
 Eye protection – for example, spectacles/goggles,
shields etc
 Hearing protection – for example, ear muffs and plugs.
 Hand protection – for example, gloves and barrier
creams
 The 4 PPE Levels include:

1. Level A:
 According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Level A PPE should be worn, “when the greatest level of skin,
respiratory, and eye protection is required.”

 This type of protective equipment is needed for dealing with highly

toxic and dangerous chemicals such as ammonia.
Level A protection consists of:
 Positive pressure air respirator with emergency self-contained
breathing apparatus (SCBA)
 Inner and outer chemical resistant gloves

 Coveralls (as needed)

 Long Underwear (as needed)
 Fully protective chemical suit

 Hard hat (to be worn under the protective suit) (as needed)
 Chemical resistant steel-toe and boots.
 A disposable protective set of suit, boots and gloves. These
protective items may be worn over the protective suit.
 
Level B:

 Level B PPE should be worn when an employee needs the highest

level of respiratory protection, but less skin and eye protection is
necessary.

 This protective ensemble is used on initial site entries where hazards

may not have been fully identified yet.
Level B protection consists of:

 Positive pressure air respirator with emergency self-

contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)
 Chemical-resistant gloves (double-layered)

 Clothing that is resistant to chemicals

 Chemical resistant steel-toe and boots. The boot shank,
the supportive structure between the insole and outsole,
must also be steel.
Level C:
Level C PPE is similar to Level B; however, Level C protection is
selected when, “the concentration(s) and type(s) of airborne
substance(s) is known and the criteria for using air purifying
respirators are met”
Level C protective equipment consists of:
 Air purifying half-mask or full-face respirators that have been approved by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
 Chemical-resistant clothing, with hood
 Out and inner chemical-resistant gloves

 Chemical resistant steel-toe and boots. The boot shank, the supportive structure
between the insole and outsole, must also be steel.
 Outer boot-covers (chemical-resistant)

 Face shield (as needed)

 Hard hat (as needed)
 Coveralls (as needed)
 Escape mask (as needed)
1. Level D:
 Level D PPE is used for “nuisance” level contaminants
and offers minimal protection to the employer.
Level D protection consists of:
 Coveralls
 Gloves
 Steel toe and shank boots (chemical-
resistant)

 Boot covers (disposable)

 Safety glasses

 Escape mask (optional)

 Hard hat (optional)
 Face shield (optional)
Gloves
 Glove is a protective clothing used to cover all or part of hands
including the fingers.

 They can be used in laboratory work provided they are strong

enough to protect against the specific chemical being handled.

 They are made of Rubber, plastic or synthetic gloves: These

types of glove can be used when cleaning or working with oils,
solvents and or infectious agents
Disposable or reusable laboratory coats
(impervious to liquids)
 this is a knee-length overcoat worn by workers
in the medial field or those working in the
laboratory.
 It serves as a protection and some times as
uniform
Goggles
 Safety goggles are intended to shield the wearer's eyes from impact
hazards such as flying fragments, objects, large chips, and particles.

 Goggles fit the face immediately surrounding the eyes and form a
protective seal around the eyes. This prevents objects from entering
under or around the goggles
Side shields (for glasses)
 Side shields are items of personal protective
equipment (PPE) that are designed to reduce the
chances of unwanted flying debris getting to the
eyes through the gaps on the outermost sides of
safety glasses.
Face shields

 Face shield is a device used to protect wearer's entire face (or

part of it) from hazards such as flying objects and road debris,
chemical splashes (in industry),

 or potentially infectious materials (in medical and laboratory

environments).
Shoe covers
 These are protective coverings for shoes worn by
surgical personnel, and other workers such as those
working in laboratories like tissue/cell culture
laboratories who are working in a sterile environment
in order to minimize contamination.
Respiratory protection (Respirator)

 This is a particular type of Personal Protective

Equipment (PPE), used to protect the individual wearer
against the inhalation of hazardous substances in the
workplace air
Face mask
 Facemasks are examples of personal protective
equipment that are used to protect the wearer from
liquid and airborne particles contaminating the face.
 They are one part of an infection-control strategy.
 
Donning and Removing PPE for Infection Prevention

 The importance of attention to personal protection cannot be

underestimated.

 By way of example, a cluster of 17 SARS (severe acute respiratory

syndrome) cases among Canadian HCP in 2003 was studied.

 Among the findings – 13 of those who fell ill (87 percent) were
unsure of the proper order in which personal protective equipment
(PPE) should be donned and removed.
Donning Basics
General CDC recommendations for the appropriate use of PPE include:

 Don PPE before patient contact and generally before entering the
patient room.
 Once it is on, use PPE carefully to avoid contamination. 
 Follow general safe-work practices including:

 Keep hands away from face.

 Work from clean to dirty.
 Limit surfaces touched.
 Change PPE when torn or heavily contaminated.
To don a gown:
 Select the appropriate type and size.
 With the opening in the back, secure the gown at the neck
and waist.
 If the gown is too small for full coverage, use two; the
first with the opening in the front, and the second placed
over it with the opening in the back.
To don a mask:
 Place it over the nose, mouth and chin.
 Fit the flexible nose piece over the bridge of the nose.
 Secure it on the head with ties or elastic.
 Adjust it to fit.
To don goggles and face shield:
 Position goggles over the eyes and secure to the head using
the ear pieces or headband.

 Position the face shield over the face and secure on brow
with the headband.
 Adjust for comfort.
To don gloves:
 Gloves are the last element of PPE to be applied.
 Extend the hands into the gloves and extend the
gloves to cover the wrist of the isolation gown. 
 Tuck the cuffs of the gown securely under each
glove. 
 Adjust for comfort and dexterity.  
Removal Basics
 Once laboratory or patient-care tasks are complete, carefully
remove PPE and discard it in the receptacles provided.
 Immediately perform hand hygiene.

 During removal, the goal is to avoid contamination of self or the

environment with the contaminated equipment. 
 Generally, the outside front and sleeves of a gown, the outside
front of face protection and the outside of gloves are considered
contaminated regardless of the appearance of visible soil. 
To remove a gown:
 Unfasten the ties.
 Peel the gown away from the neck and shoulder.

 Turn the contaminated side (the outside) toward the

inside.
 Fold or roll the gown into a bundle.
 Discard in designated receptacle.
To remove a mask,
note that the front is considered contaminated and should not
be touched. Follow these steps:

 First untie the bottom, then the top tie.

 Lift the mask away from the face.
 Discard in designated receptacle.
To remove a respirator:
 Lift the bottom elastic over the head first.

 Lift the top elastic slowly to avoid

“snapping.”
 Discard in designated receptacle.
To remove gloves:
 Grasp the outside edge near the wrist. 
 Peel the glove away from the hand, turning the glove inside
out.  Hold it in the opposite gloved hand.
 Slide an ungloved finger under the wrist of the remaining
glove, then peel it off from the inside, creating a “bag” for
both used gloves.
 Discard in designated receptacle.
 Again, remember to perform hand hygiene after using and
discarding PPE.        
 
Role of Safety Culture
 Proper donning and removal of PPE is one basic step in a safety
culture.
 A safety culture refers to a work environment where there is a shared
commitment to safety on the part of management and employees.
 Several hospital studies have linked this shared commitment to safety
with healthcare personnel adherence to safe work practices and reduced
exposure to potentially infectious blood and body fluids.
 Building a strong safety culture is a means to enhance your infection
prevention program.