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PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

  1.  Scope
    1.  This procedure covers ESCO Group employees working on ESCO Group property or customer sites. ESCO Group employees will follow all customer personal protective equipment requirements on customer sites.
  2. Selection and Use of Personal Protective Equipment
    1.  A written hazard assessment will be performed to determine if job site hazards are present, or likely to be present, which would require the use of PPE. The safety director will maintain a current signed copy of the hazard assessment. Copies of the hazard assessment will be made available in ESCO Group Safety Manual.
    2. Each employee exposed to mechanical, chemical, environmental, or radiological irritants in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment to any part of the body will wear the necessary PPE required by the hazard assessment or customer requirement.
    3. All personal protective equipment, either ESCO Group-owned or employee-owned will be maintained in a safe, reliable and sanitary condition. Defective personal protective equipment shall not be used and will be removed from service.
    4. ESCO Group will provide all required PPE with the exception of safety footwear and prescription safety lenses. The safety department will ensure all shared PPE is maintained and inspected. Employees are responsible to make sure individual-issued PPE fits properly and is kept in a sanitary and reliable condition. Employees will notify a supervisor or the safety department if replacement PPE is needed.
  3. Training:
    1.  All employees required to use PPE will be trained on the elements of the Personal Protective Equipment Program, including the following:
      1. When PPE is necessary.
      2. What PPE is necessary to meet ESCO Group and customer requirements.
      3. How to don, doff, adjust and wear PPE properly.
      4. Use and limitation of PPE.
      5. Proper care, use, maintenance, useful life, and disposal of the PPE.
    2. Employees will be retrained as necessary to maintain compliance with ESCO Group policies and customer requirements. Retraining is required in the following circumstances:
      1. Changes in workplace hazards
      2. Changes in types of PPE
      3. Inadequacies in an affected employee’s knowledge, skills or understanding of the PPE.
    3. Personal protective equipment training will be documented. A certification record will be maintained identifying the employees, dates and the training topic.
  4. Hardhats
    1.  Hard hats with company identification must be worn at all times in areas where there is possible danger of head injury from impact, flying objects, or from electrical shock and burns. Customers may require extra or additional identifications to be worn on the hardhat. Hardhats must be worn bill forward at all times and maintained in good condition following the manufactures recommendations. Never store gloves, earplugs, MP3 player’s etc. between the suspension and the shell of the hardhat. These conditions include but are not limited to any industrial facility, new commercial construction including remodeling and always where the customer or owner’s work rules require them to be worn.
  5. Safety Glasses
    1. Safety glasses with side shields are required during working hours. The proper shade filter lens shall be used for protection against radiant energy in all welding and burning operations. Employees shall wear protective equipment for the eyes whenever there is danger of injury from electric arcs, flashes, or from flying objects resulting from electrical explosion. Safety Glasses shall meet ANSI Z87-2 2003 and be non-metallic frames. Contact lenses are prohibited on all jobsites.
  6. Goggles and Spoggles
    1.  Proper goggles or spoggles shall be worn:
      1. When working in dusty locations
      2. When grinding, drilling, chopping or sawing (manual or mechanical) overhead. (The goggles/spoggles will always be used in conjunction with a face shield)
      3. When using powder actuated tools (use with face shield)
    2. Splash-Proof Chemical Goggles will be worn when performing the following jobs:
      1. Handling wet shell batteries
      2. Handling or in the near vicinity of caustic, acid and any other chemicals where spill or splash hazards exist.
  7. Face Shields
    1.  An approved full-face shield will be worn to provide face protection from flying particles, chemical splashes or mist. Face shields are secondary eye protection and must be used only with primary eye protection, i.e., safety glasses, mono-goggles. Face shields with proper primary eye protection or spoggle type eye protection shall be worn when overhead (above the shoulders) drilling or cutting take place.
    2. Face shields are required when performing the followings jobs:
      1. Grinding or chipping any material (goggles must be worn under the face shield).
      2. Using wire brushes (power or hand).
      3. Handling wet cell batteries.
      4. Handling caustics, acids and other chemicals where spill or splash hazards exist (to be used with chemical mono-goggles).
      5. Operating masonry saws.
      6. Operating abrasive cutoff saws (gasoline or electric).
      7. Using powder actuated tools (to be used with goggles.
  8. Respirator
    1.  The proper type respirator will be worn when working near hazardous or toxic fumes. Particulate dust masks shall be worn in dusty atmospheres. Respirator training is required under potentially harmful atmospheres that could endanger an individual.
  9. Ear Protection
    1. Whenever it is not feasible to reduce the noise levels or duration of exposures to permissible noise exposures, ear protective devices inserted in the ear shall be fitted or determined individually by competent persons. The use of portable electronic device (IPods, MP3 players, head phones w/tunes) as hearing protection devices is not allowed and shall not be onsite during work hours.
  10. Harnesses
    1. Safety Harnesses shall be worn and secured when working in any elevated work location above 6’ (six feet) where guardrails or safety nets are not provided.
  11. Glove Policy
    1.  ESCO Group employs a 100% glove policy. Gloves shall be worn when handling equipment and materials. When handling chemicals, solvents, acids, etc., the proper types of rubber or plastic-coated gloves shall be used. When using knives or utility knives or working with materials where possible cut hazards exist, Kevlar or equivalent cut resistant gloves shall be used.
      1. When working around rotating equipment with an entanglement hazard, employees shall not wear gloves.
  12. Foot Protection
    1.  Foot Protection guards (metatarsals) will be worn when using tampers, jackhammers and similar equipment. Hard-toed safety shoes are required for all employees. Safety-toe footwear for employees shall meet the requirements and specifications in American National Standards for Safety-toe footwear. Z41.1-1999 or newer and Standard Test Methods for Foot Protection, ASTM F-2412-2005. Employees exposed to electrical hazards will wear Electrical Hazard rated composite toe leather work shoes meeting the requirements for Z41.1. 1999 and ASTM F-2412-2005, (See Electrical Safety Work Practices program 16)
  13. Clothing
    1. For electrical protective clothing and personal protective equipment please refer to ESCO Group’s “Electrical Safety Work Practices Program”.

Inspections and PPE Charts