§ 627.21 - Introduction.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) includes clothing and equipment used to protect the laboratory worker from contact with infectious, toxic, and corrosive agents, as well as excessive heat, fire, and other physical hazards. The appropriate PPE for any activity depends upon the proposed operations and the potential hazards associated with them. While PPE is an important item of personal protection, it serves as only a secondary line of protection against hazards in the workplace. Engineering controls (subpart H), combined with common sense, good laboratory techniques, and adherence to SOPs, are the primary barriers to exposure. There are some situations, however, in which it is either impractical or impossible to rely exclusively on engineering controls. In these cases, PPE may form the primary barrier between personnel and the hazardous or infectious materials.