Personal protective equipment (PPE) includes items like helmets, gloves, goggles, and safety footwear, designed to prevent workplace injuries and health risks. Different types of PPE are categorized based on their protective attributes, such as skin, respiratory, eye, hearing, and head protection. Proper selection, use, and maintenance of PPE are critical for employee safety.

1. TYPES OF PERSONAL
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)
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2. Personal protective equipment (PPE), such as safety helmets, gloves, safety glasses,
goggles, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and safety harnesses, is designed as
a prevention for work injuries. As an important means of protection against health
and safety risks at work, it is crucial to choose equipment that are effective and
reliable and thereafter ensuring that they are being properly used and maintained.
Below are the different categories of PPE, each with specific protective attributes,
worn to ensure the greatest possible protection for employees in the workplace.
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3. SKIN PROTECTION
The second most common type of occupational
disease, skin diseases are caused by skin
hazards, which include chemical, biological
and physical agents, as well as mechanical
trauma. Skin protection is used as a barrier
between the skin and harmful substances, for
instance, gloves, coveralls, laboratory coats,
surgical gowns, full body suits and face shields.
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4. RESPIRATORS
Serve to preserve the health of one’s respiratory
tract and to protect against adverse health
effects caused by breathing contaminated air,
respirators are divided into two main types: Air-
Purifying Respirators (APRs) and Supplied-Air
Respirators (SARs). APRs remove contaminants
in the air by filtering out particulates whereas
the SARs supply clean respirable air from a
compressed air tank or through an airline.
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5. EYE PROTECTION
Safety spectacles, laser safety goggles,
goggles and welding shields are some
common examples of eye protection. All of
these PPE should have the ability to protect
against eye and face hazards, such as flying
particles and harmful light radiation and
they should fit properly as well as provide
unrestricted vision and movement.
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6. HEARING PROTECTION
Often overlooked as an occupational hazard,
excessive, potentially damaging high
industrial noise levels can result in
irreversible hearing loss or impairment.
Single-use earplugs, pre-formed or molded
earplugs and earmuffs are hearing
protectors worn so as to reduce one’s noise
exposure to within the acceptable limits.
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7. HEAD PROTECTION
Protective helmets or hard hats are worn in
order to prevent potential head injuries.
They are designed in such a way that they
are able to absorb the shock of a blow and
resist penetration by objects. These
protective headgears are also water-
resistant and slow burning.
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United States Navy via Wikimedia Commons