The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is calling for a new rule requiring personal protective equipment to fit properly. This proposed revision to an existing rule would add clarity to OSHA’s PPE requirements for construction.
The current rules for construction workers require employers to provide and maintain PPE. Furthermore, 29 CFR 1926.95 specifies that PPE must be of safe design and in reliable condition—and that it fits properly to provide adequate protection. However, OSHA believes that this rule modification is necessary to make the existing language more understandable.
The proposed rule would enhance the existing one to specifically require that PPE must fit each worker. The goal is to ensure that workers of all sizes have access to PPE that fits them.
While many think this rule clarification targets women working in the industry, it will also benefit male workers who don’t fit the average height and weight parameters.
PPE that is too big or too small can become a safety impediment, resulting in choking hazards, tripping/falling hazards, cutting off circulation, hindering mobility or loose clothing getting caught in machinery. According to an informal survey of 174 tradeswomen conducted by the Center for Construction Research and Training, 77% had experienced exposure to hazards due to ill-fitting PPE—primarily falls, inhalation and eye exposure. Some workers remove ill-fitting PPE, putting themselves at risk of injury or exposure.
Eschewing the one-size-fits-all mindset comes at a cost. OSHA estimates the potential one-time cost to the entire industry of complying with their proposed rule could be as much as $545,000, due to about 10% of the workforce currently wearing ill-fitting PPE.
Cost has been an issue raised during previous PPE rule proposals, such as when OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health recommended the PPE rule as part of its Standards Improvement Project IV in 2016. Objections resulted in shelving the proposal.
Nevertheless, Amy Roosa, founder of The Safety Rack, a media network that reviews PPE for women in the trades, believes the cost of providing PPE in an assortment of sizes will be minimal. “The variation in price is not that great anymore,” she told Construction Dive in a July article. “It’s not that much more or less to fit a woman in properly fitted PPE.”
OSHA will accept public comments on the proposed rule until Sept. 18, 2023. Comments can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov, following the instructions found under “Addresses” in the Federal Register notice for the NPRM.
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Lori Lovely is an award-winning writer and editor in central Indiana. She writes on technical topics, heavy equipment, automotive, motorsports, energy, water and wastewater, animals, real estate, home improvement, gardening and more. Reach her at: [email protected]