Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as PPE, is any article of clothing or product designed to create a barrier to keep workers safe from injury or illness when working with or around hazardous materials.
All PPE should be well-fitted and comfortable to wear to ensure maximum employee compliance.
Consider the following Personal Protective Equipment when disposing of gas cylinders:
- Eye and face protection
- Respiratory protection
- Hand protection
- Foot protection
Eye and Face Protection
Eye and face protection are recommended for use with compressed gas cylinders to prevent or reduce injuries from chemical vapors and flying objects. Eye and face protection includes face shields, goggles, and welding helmets. Regular safety glasses are typically not enough protection because they are not impact resistant. Even non-toxic gas discharged at high pressure can damage the eyes. Working with toxic gas requires the use of goggles that form a seal around the eyes to prevent vapors from entering the eyes.
Employees that wear prescription eyewear should either obtain PPE that incorporates their prescription into the safety lenses or obtain PPE that can be worn over glasses effectively.
See ANSI Standards Z87.1-1989(R-1998) or Z87.1-2010 “American National Standard for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection” for further information.
Respiratory Protection
Respiratory protection keeps workers safe from inhalation of chemical vapors and toxic gases. Respiratory protection is most commonly a respirator or self-contained breathing apparatus, but may also include a continuous airline system. Respiratory protection is also important when working in enclosed spaces where oxygen depletion can occur if there is a cylinder leak.
There are two types of respirators: air purifying and atmosphere supplying. Air purifying respirators clean the air through the use of filters and should not be used in enclosed spaces where oxygen depletion can occur. Atmosphere supplying respirators provide breathable air from a location other than the conditions in which the employee is working.
Hand and Foot Protection
Wearing elbow length, heavyweight gloves is typically recommended when working with cylinders of toxic gas like chlorine. Certain compressed gas cylinders will require the use of cold insulating gloves. Even cylinders containing non-toxic gas should be handled with heavyweight gloves to prevent damage to the hands from exploding equipment and metal fragments.
Foot protection should also be worn around gas cylinders. Gas cylinders are very heavy and their shape makes them prone to tipping, so steel-toed or similar boots should be worn.
Training and Procurement
All employees should be trained on the use of PPE. Training should cover when PPE is necessary, what type of PPE should be used, care and maintenance of PPE, how to put on, fit properly, and remove PPE, and the limitations of PPE.
OSHA requires that PPE be paid for by the employer, with a few exceptions. Safety-toe footwear and prescription safety glasses are exempt from the requirement if the item can be worn off the jobsite without any damage to the item or reduction in the safety of the employee.