SUBJECT: Personal Protective Equipment in Construction
ORIGIN: Moldex® Technical Services Department
SOURCE: Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)
REVIEWED/UPDATED: January, 2025
Review
OSHA recently amended its rule on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the construction industry (29CFR1926.95). The rule was amended to explicitly state that PPE must fit properly to provide appropriate protection for workers from workplace hazards. The change aligns the construction industry standard with the standard already in place for general industry and shipyards. PPE includes many different types of protective equipment including hard hats, gloves, goggles, safety shoes, welding equipment, coveralls, respirators, hearing protection and safety glasses. PPE must fit in order to protect an employee from a hazard, but can create a hazard itself to the employee or those around them if not properly fitted (for example large coveralls where a sleeve could get caught in a machine).
Specifically, 29CFR1926.95(c) states that employers must ensure all PPE
- is of safe design and construction for the work to be performed;and
- is selected to ensure that it properly fits each affected employee.
OSHA defines “properly fits” as PPE that is the appropriate size to provide an employee with the necessary protection from hazards and does not create additional safety and health hazards arising from being either too small or too large.
Remember that comfort is an important consideration for properly fitting PPE since more comfortable PPE may be more likely to be worn by the employee AND discomfort may indicate poor fit.
When Federal OSHA promulgates a new standard or a more stringent amendment to an existing standard, States with their own OSHA-approved plans must amend their plans to be identical or at least as effective as the new or amended Federal standard.
The rule becomes effective on January 13, 2025.
For more information on personal protective equipment in construction
Moldex® Solution
This new amendment reinforces the fact that respirators and hearing protection must be properly fitted and worn.
Moldex already has a range of sizes in respirators and hearing protection to help cover the increasing diversity of today’s American work- force. Use an OSHA approved respirator fit test such as the Moldex Bitter Qualitative Fit Test Kit, or take advantage of our loan programs for Portacount or Fit Check Solo.
WARNING: The information contained in this Tech Brief is dated and was accurate to the best of Moldex’s actual knowledge, on the date above. It is not meant to be comprehensive, nor is it intended to be used in place of the warning/use instructions that accompany Moldex respirators. Outside of the USA, check with all applicable and local government regulations.
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