http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Personal_protective_equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garment or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body frominjury by blunt impacts, electrical hazards, heat, chemicals, and infection, for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, and in sports, martial arts,combat, etc. Personal armor is combat-specialized protective gear. In British legislation the term PPE does not cover items such as armour. The terms "protective gear" and "protective clothing" are in many cases interchangeable; "protective clothing" is applied to traditional categories of clothing, and "gear" is a more general term and preferably means uniquely protective categories, such as pads, guards, shields, masks, etc. Items such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits are not protective gear, but rather equipment to support the personal protection of the subject. Handcuffs, tasers, batons and handguns used by police forces fall under this category. The use of personal protective equipment is to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective to reduce these risks to acceptable levels.

Biological hazard protection

See also: Biohazard suit and Positive pressure personnel suit Protective equipment for biological hazards includes masks worn by medical personnel (especially in surgery to avoid infecting the patient but also to avoid exposing the personnel to infection from the patient.) Gloves, frequently changed, are used to prevent infection but also transfer between patients.[citation needed] One measure to reduce the risks of transmitting skin microorganisms from one person to another is in the use of single use disposable blood pressure cuff covers. Reports of hospitals reducing their hospital acquired infection rate by nearly 50% through the use of disposable protective covers for blood pressure cuffs have been reported. [edit]Ballistic Main article: Personal armor Ballistic personal protective equipment (or armor) is used in combat by military personnel and in lesser conflicts by law enforcement. [edit]Chemicals Main article: Hazmat suit A hazmat suit is an impermeable garment that covers the whole body, worn as protection from hazardous substances. It is generally combined with breathing apparatus, and may be used by firefighters, emergency personnel responding to toxic spills, researchers, specialists

cleaning up contaminated facilities, or workers in toxic environments, where there is exposure to hazardous materials. [edit]Flying

debris or splashing liquids

A face shield protects from flying debris such as produced by cutting, welding, chipping, or sanding, and protects against splashes or spray of liquids. Safety glasses provide protection for the eyes and may additionally be tinted to block UV or laser light. Goggles seal tightly about the eyes and provide superior protection from dust, dirt, and fumes. [edit]Sharp

injuries

Meat packers and others who routinely use hand-held knives in their work may use mail gloves to protect the hands from cuts. Those in other professions where sharps injuries are a concern often utilize cut and puncture resistant protective gloves, and hand held safety tools that offer critical stand-off distance between themselves and whatever they may come into contact. [edit]Blunt

trauma

Main article: Blunt trauma personal protective equipment Law enforcement and Corrections officers wear Blunt Trauma PPE for crowd management, civil disturbances, cell extractions, riot control, violent disturbances, and other emergency response operations. To assure their equipment is safe, end-users and industry refer to standards:

Canadian Standards Association CAN/CSA Z617-06 Personal Protective Equipment for Blunt Trauma.[1] Home Office Scientific Development Branch: HOSDB Blunt Trauma Protector Standard for UK Police (2007) - Limb and Torso Protectors 20-07.[2] National Institute of Justice NIJ Standard 0115.00 Stab Resistance of Personal Body Armor - Spike Level 1.[3]

[edit]Fire See Fire proximity suit. [edit]Radioactive

contamination

Further information: Radioactive contamination When a person works in an area of radioactive contamination, anti-contamination clothing, often including gloves, shoe covers, and masks are worn, usually in addition to regular clothes. To prevent radioactive particles from entering the suit, duct tape may be used to seal the openings. In cases of heavy contamination, it is often more convenient to wear two or more layers of anti-c's to help limit contamination in the place designated to remove the clothes. For example, if two layers of clothes are worn, the

first layer can be removed without threatening the contamination of clothes worn underneath. Anti-c's protect the wearer from radioactive contamination and some forms of radiation. Although gamma rays cannot be attenuated by clothing, alpha particles can be stopped and beta particles can be somewhat blocked by a layer of clothing. [edit]Sports Protective clothing is also worn for contact sports, such as ice hockey and American football. Baseball players wear sliding shorts and a cup under their pants. See baseball clothing and equipment, cuirass,goalie mask, jockstrap. Law in many countries requires protective headgear and eyewear for riding a motorcycle. [edit]Susceptible

to injury protection

Helmets have been custom made for those with cranial injuries or abnormalities to avoid potential brain damage. [edit]Respiratory

protection

Air-purifying respirator

Respirators such as "gas masks" and particulate respirators filter chemicals and gases or airborne particles. A second type of respirator protects users by providing clean, respirable air from another source. This type includes airline respirators and selfcontained breathing apparatus (SCUBA).[4] In work environments, respirators are used when adequate ventilation is not available or other engineering control systems are not feasible.[4] In the United Kingdom, an organization that has extensive expertise in respiratory protective equipment is the Institute of Occupational Medicine. This expertise has been built on a long-standing and varied research programme that has included the setting of workplace protection factors to the assessment of efficacy of masks available through high street retail outlets. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), NHS Health Scotland and Healthy Working Lives (HWL) have jointly developed the RPE Selector Tool, which is web-based. This tool is based on HSEs guidance on RPE HSG53 - Respiratory protective equipment at work - a practical guide.

[edit]PPE

by body area

See List of personal protective equipment by body area

PPE by usage
[edit]Combat Gear for defense against ballistic weapons are commonly worn by military and law enforcement personnel. [edit]Shield

U.S. police officer with a riot shield

A shield is held in the hand or arm. Its purpose is to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or by glancing a blow to the side of the shield-user. Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large shields that protect the user's entire body to small shields that are mostly for use in hand-to-hand combat. Shields also vary a great deal in thickness; whereas some shields were made of thick wooden planking, to protect soldiers from spears and crossbow bolts, other shields were thinner and designed mainly for glancing blows away (such as a sword blow). In prehistory, shields were made of wood, animal hide, or wicker. In antiquity and in the Middle Ages, shields were used by foot soldiers and mounted soldiers. Even after the invention of gunpowder and firearms, shields continued to be used. In the 18th century, Scottish clans continued to use small shields, and in the 19th century, some non-industrialized peoples continued to use shields. In the 20th and 21st century, shields are used by military and police units that specialize in anti-terrorist action, hostage rescue, and siege-breaching.

[edit]Torso

Ballistic vest.

A ballistic vest helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso. Soft vests are made from many layers of woven or laminated fibers and can be capable of protecting the wearer from small caliber handgun and shotgun projectiles, and small fragments from explosives such as hand grenades. Metal or ceramic plates can be used with a soft vest, providing additional protection from rifle rounds, and metallic components or tightly-woven fiber layers can give soft armor resistance to stab and slash attacks from a knife. Soft vests are commonly worn by police forces, private citizens and private security guards orbodyguards, whereas hard-plate reinforced vests are mainly worn by combat soldiers, police tactical units and hostage rescue teams. Modern body armor may combine a ballistic vest with other items of protective clothing, such as a combat helmet. Vests intended for police and military use may also include ballistic shoulder and side protection armor components, and bomb disposal officers wear heavy armor and helmets with face visors and spine protection.

[edit]Head

A U.S. soldier wearing a combat helmet.

A combat helmet are among the oldest forms of personal protective equipment, and are known to have been worn by the Assyrians around 900BC, followed by theancient Greeks and Romans, throughout the Middle Ages, and up to the end of the 1600s by many combatants.[1] Their materials and construction became more advanced as weapons became more and more powerful. Initially constructed from leather and brass, and then bronze and iron during the Bronze and Iron Ages, they soon came to be made entirely from forged steel in many societies after about 950AD.[2] At that time, they were purely military equipment, protecting the head from cutting blows with swords, flying arrows, and lowvelocity musketry. Today's militaries often use high-quality helmets made of ballistic materials such as Kevlar andAramid, which have excellent bullet and fragmentation stopping power. Some helmets also have good non-ballistic protective qualities, though many do not.[3] Nonballistic injuries may be caused by many things, such as concussive shockwaves from explosions, physical attacks, motor vehicle accidents, or falls[4]. A ballistic face mask, is designed to protect the wearer from ballistic threats. Ballistic face masks are usually made of kevlar or other bullet resistant materials and the inside of the mask may be padded for shock absorption, depending on the design. Due to weight restrictions, protection levels range only up to NIJ Level IIIA. [edit]Respiratory system A gas mask is worn over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling "airborne pollutants" and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Airborne toxic materials may be gaseous or particulate. Many gas masks include protection from both types. During riots where tear gas or CS-gas is employed by riot police, gas masks are commonly used by police and rioters alike. [edit]Limbs Protection of limbs from bombs is provided by a bombsuit.

[edit]Sports [edit]Limbs

A pair of fingerless cycling gloves.

Gloves are frequently used to keep the hands warm, a function that is particularly necessary when cycling in cold weather. The hands are also relatively inactive, and do not have a great deal of muscle mass, which also contributes to the possibility of chill. Gloves are therefore vital for insulating the hands from cold, wind, andevaporative cooling. Putting a hand out to break a fall is a natural reaction, however, the hands are one of the more difficult parts of the body to repair. There is little or no spare skin, and immobilising the hands sufficiently to promote healing involves significant inconvenience to the patient. Fingerless gloves, have a lightly padded palm of leather (natural or synthetic), gel or other material. Full-finger gloves are useful in winter, when real warmth is not an issue. These are also generally waterproof but will become soggy in heavy rain. Lobster-claw gloves are halfway between glove and mitten. Two fingers are placed in each of two wide fingers. [edit]Construction [edit]Head

U.S. Navy sailors loading cargo onto a container ship in Antarctica

A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments, such as construction sites, to protect the head from injury by falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, bad weather and electric shock. Inside the helmet is a suspension that spreads the helmet's weight over the top of the head. It also provides a space of approximately 3 cm (1.2 inch) between the helmet's shell and the wearer's head so that if an object strikes the shell, the impact is less likely to be transmitted directly to the skull. Rigid plastic has been the most common material.

[edit]Respiratory system

A half face particulate mask.

A respirator is designed to protect the wearer from inhaling harmful dusts, fumes, vapors, and/or gases. Respirators come in a wide range of types and sizes used by the military, private industry, and the public. Respirators range from cheaper, single-use, disposable masks to reusable models with replaceable cartridges. There are two main categories: the air-purifying respirator, which forces contaminated air through a filtering element, and the air-supplied respirator, in which an alternate supply of fresh air is delivered. Within each category, different techniques are employed to reduce or eliminate noxious airborne contents. [edit]PPE

by body area
headgear

[edit]Protective

a beekeeping hat, veil, and suit

[edit]Masks Some masks made of hard material like those used by goaltenders in ice hockey (a goalie mask) and catchers in baseball as protection against being struck in the face.

For gas masks and similar, see #Respiratory protection. See Mask (disambiguation)

[edit]Helmets See Helmet#Types of helmet [edit]Eye protection

Goggles

See Eye protection.

[edit]Hearing protection

ear defenders and visor on a safety helmet

Ear defenders Earplug Earmuffs Earpads/earflaps

[edit]Other head/neck protection

Throat guard Headguard (Head guard) Boxing headgear Mouthguard Armored/insulated hood Association football headgear

[edit]Arm/shoulder

protection

Shoulder pads Forearm guard Fist guard Knuckle guard Wrist guard Elbow guard Elbow pad Hand/Wrist Wraps

[edit]Hand

protection

nitrile glove

Gloves are available to protect against:

Chemicals, contamination and infection (e.g. disposable latex/vinyl/nitrile gloves) Electricity, when voltage is too high Extremes of temperature (e.g. oven gloves, welder's gloves) Mechanical hazards (e.g. rigger gloves, chainmail gloves) Lacerations and other wounds from sharp objects

Baseball glove Belay gloves Cycling gloves Falconry gloves Gymnastics grips Hand guards Hand/wrist wraps Hockey glove Wicket-keeper's gloves

[edit]Body

protection

Also see Blunt Trauma PPE

Athletic supporter/protective cup Chestguard (Chest guard, Hogu) Rib guard Abdomen guard (cricket box)

[edit]Foot/Leg/hip

protection

clogs

Foot guard Hip pads (Hip pad) Knee pads Instep guard/instep protector Shin guard (shin guards) Combined knee-shin guards Padded shorts Bouldering mat Chaps are individual pant leggings made of leather and worn by farriers, cowboys, and rodeo contestants to protect the legs from contact with hooves, thorny undergrowth, and other such work hazards. May also be made of other materials for leg protection against other hazards, such as "rain chaps" of waterproof materials, or "saw chaps" of Kevlar for chainsaw workers. Safety footwear & Protective footwear is footwear that comes with a protective toe cap.