Personal Protective Equipment

Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or

other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection.
The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, electrical, heat,
chemicals, biohazards, and airborne particulate matter. Protective equipment may be worn
for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, as well as for sports and
other recreational activities. "Protective clothing" is applied to traditional categories of
clothing, and "protective gear" applies to items such as pads, guards, shields, or masks,
and others.
TYPES

Respirators
Respirators serve to protect the user from breathing in contaminants in the air, thus
preserving the health of one's respiratory tract. There are two main types of respirators.
One type of respirator functions by filtering out chemicals and gases, or airborne particles,
from the air breathed by the user. The filtration may be either passive or active
(powered). Gas masks and particulate respirators are examples of this type of respirator. A
second type of respirator protects users by providing clean, respirable air from another
source.

SKIN PROTECTION
Any form of PPE that acts as a barrier between the skin and the agent of exposure can be
considered skin protection. Because much work is done with the hands, gloves are an
essential item in providing skin protection. Some examples of gloves commonly used as PPE
include rubber gloves, cut-resistant gloves, chainsaw gloves and heat-resistant gloves. For
sports and other recreational activities, many different gloves are used for protection,
generally against mechanical trauma.
Other than gloves, any other article of clothing or protection worn for a purpose serve to
protect the skin. Lab coats for example, are worn to protect against potential splashes of
chemicals. Face shields serve to protect one's face from potential impact hazards, chemical
splashes or possible infectious fluid.
GLOVES
Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and
disease; or in turn to provide a guard for what a bare hand should not touch. 

A rubber glove is a glove made out of rubber. Rubber gloves can be unsupported (rubber only) or
supported (rubber coating of textile glove). Its primary purpose is protection of the hands while
performing tasks involving chemicals. Rubber gloves can be worn during dishwashing to protect the
hands from detergent and allow the use of hotter water. Sometimes caregivers will use rubber gloves
during the diaper changing process to prevent contact with the child's fecal material/urine. Health
professionals use medical gloves rather than rubber gloves when performing surgical operations.

Cut-resistant gloves are those designed to protect the wearer's hands from cuts while working with
sharp tools. They can be divided into metal mesh gloves, cut -and-sewn, and seamless knitted
gloves.

EYE PROTECTION

 Goggles provide better protection than safety glasses, and are effective in preventing
eye injury from chemical splashes, impact, dusty environments and welding. [8] Goggles
with high air flow should be used to prevent fogging.[8]
 Face shields provide additional protection and are worn over the standard eyewear;
they also provide protection from impact, chemical, and blood-borne hazards. [8]
 Full-face piece respirators are considered the best form of eye protection when
respiratory protection is needed as well, but may be less effective against potential
impact hazards to the eye.[8]

HEARING PROTECTION
 An earplug is a device that is meant to be inserted in the ear canal to protect the user's
ears from loud noises or the intrusion of water, foreign bodies, dust or excessive wind.

Earmuffs are objects designed to cover a person's ears for hearing protection or for

warmth. They consist of a thermoplastic or metal head-band, that fits over the top or
back of the head, and a cushion or cup at each end, to cover the external ears. This
article focuses on earmuffs worn for hearing protection.

Personal hygiene

the human body can provide places for disease-causing germs and parasites to grow and multiply. These places include
the skin and in and around the openings to the body. It is less likely that germs and parasites will get inside the body if
people have good personal hygiene habits.

Good personal hygiene

Good personal hygiene habits include:

 washing the body often. If possible, everybody should have a shower or a bath every day. However, there may be
times when this is not possible, for example, when people are out camping or there is a shortage of water
 cleaning the teeth at least once a day. Brushing the teeth after each meal is the best way of making sure that gum
disease and tooth decay are avoided. It is very important to clean teeth after breakfast and immediately before going to
bed
 washing the hair with soap or shampoo at least once a week
 washing hands with soap after going to the toilet
 washing hands with soap before preparing and/or eating food. During normal daily activities, such as working and
playing, disease causing germs may get onto the hands and under the nails. If the germs are not washed off before
preparing food or eating, they may get onto the food
 changing into clean clothes. Dirty clothes should be washed with laundry soap before wearing them again
 hanging clothes in the sun to dry. The sun's rays will kill some disease-causing germs and parasites
 turning away from other people and covering the nose and mouth with a tissue or the hand when coughing or
sneezing. If this is not done, droplets of liquid containing germs from the nose and mouth will be spread in the air and
other people can breathe them in, or the droplets can get onto food