What is personal protective equipment (PPE)?

PPE is equipment worn by a worker to minimize exposure to specific occupational hazards. Examples of
PPE are respirators, gloves, aprons, fall protection, and full body suits, as well as head, eye and foot
protection. Using PPE is only one element in a complete safety program that would use a variety of
strategies to maintain a safe and healthy occupational environment. PPE does not reduce the hazard
itself nor does it guarantee permanent or total protection.

What is the role of personal protective equipment (PPE)?

Hazards exist in every workplace so strategies to protect workers are essential. The priority should be the
elimination and control of hazards at their source or along the path between the source and the worker.
Many methods are available, and those most appropriate to the specific situation should be used.

PPE: The Housekeeping Staff’s Line of Defense

Promoting safety on a job site should be a regular routine for any organization. When it comes to the
cleaning mission, managers are challenged to equip their staff with an above-average array of personal
protective equipment (PPE) daily. There’s the obvious: when working near potential falling objects, wear
a hardhat; when using chemicals, wear gloves.

Assessing the risks

For housekeepers, there are the chemicals that might be stored at the areas to be cleaned, but there are
also the chemicals used to do the cleaning. In order for managers to know what PPE is required, they
first have to identify the potential hazards in and around the job site. Any location with a large amount of
stored chemicals represents a potential chemical risk, says Curtis Chambers, vice president of Metro
Safety Consultants, Arlington, Texas.

Craig Moulton, senior industrial hygienist for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
Washington D.C., advises managers to check the material safety datasheets to find out what PPE should
be worn when using a specific chemical for cleaning, in addition to the precautions necessary to work
safely at a particular site.

Chemicals are not the only potential dangers at a job site. Biohazards such as bloodborne pathogens and
infectious diseases are dangers that many health-care facilities managers face on a daily basis, but the
proper use of PPE can help reduce the risks. Paul Olson, housekeeping supervisor for St. Luke’s Medical
Center in Milwaukee, is guided by color-coded levels that dictate the needed PPE when cleaning isolation
rooms. The infection control department and the local doctors establish the level of isolation based on
three categories — contact, droplet or airborne — and place color-coded, bilingual picture cards on the
doorways of hospital rooms. The warning level is in English and Spanish, and illustrated. Each stage
requires gloves and gowns, but if the disease is airborne, for example, employees are required to wear a
mask.

Respirators

One of the more common pieces of PPE used to handle emergencies are respirators. Many managers
require their staff to use respirators to protect their face area as well as their air supply when working
with dangerous chemicals or in the case of other potential airborne dangers. Respirator use is dictated
by OSHA standards; managers must adhere to these guidelines.

Protecting the body

Protecting other parts of the body can be equally critical when working in hazardous areas.

Gloves are a standard protection, Olson says. He and his staff wear gloves all the time, the only exception
is when they are making a clean bed.

There are various types of gloves — rubber, latex, cloth, nitrile and butyl to name a few. As with
respirators, managers must match the type of glove to the job.

“Some gloves offer very good protection from chemicals, but they will only be good for one or two
chemicals and not good for others,” Chambers says.

DeSalvo finds that, generally, managers and other cleaning professionals use nitrile gloves. This is
because many people are susceptible to allergic reactions from wearing latex gloves. Similarly, chemicals
will most likely permeate a cloth glove.

When using gloves while working with chemicals, it is best to dispose of the gloves after one use. Inspect
them for signs of wear such as cuts, holes, or dry or brittle rubber.

People wear gloves to protect hands, but oftentimes they forget about the rest of the body, Chambers
says. Depending on the extremity of the situation, janitors may need to wear gowns, suits, boots or
goggles to protect other exposed areas of the body.
Housekeeping and environmental services managers must me prepared to assess the risks in various
cleaning situations, recognize the necessary precautions and implement the proper PPE to protect
themselves and their staffs.