Personal Protective Equipment

PPE Selection and Use

All decisions on which protective level is most appropriate will be made by the Incident Safety Officer. The level of protection selected will be based on:

• The type and (if measurable) concentration of the agent of concern. This can be chemical, biological or physical agents.
• Potential for exposure to substances in the air, liquid splashes, or other direct contact with various agents.

PPE Assessment

The Incident Safety Officer will have the Hazard Analysis from Section 3 of this HASP as a guide to PPE use for individual tasks. If a task is performed for which there is not a JHA, or the PPE must be modified from that on the JHA, a PPE form is included for the Safety Officer to complete (see Appendix 5-D)

Upgrading and downgrading of PPE

Deployment situations can be very dynamic. If air monitoring or other forms of monitoring indicate a change of conditions, or any situation arises that questions the effectiveness of current PPE levels, the Incident Safety Officer will clear the area of concern, evaluate the situation and make recommendations for further PPE if they deem necessary. The monitoring and other findings will also be used to determine if changes in work practices (such as work durations) are to be modified. See HASP section 7 for further information on monitoring.

The Incident Safety Officer will also determine when PPE levels and equipment can be downgraded due to safer conditions.