OSHA Increases Penalties for PPE Violations
Various OSHA regulations require employers to provide employees with "Personal Protective Equipment" (PPE) to protect (as applicable) their eyes, face, head, feet, hands and ears from hazardous conditions. While most employers comply with their obligations to provide (and pay for) PPE, they frequently fail to provide the required training or keep adequate training records. A PPE training program must provide information on:
- What PPE is necessary, where and when.
- How to properly don, doff, adjust and wear PPE.
- The limitations of the PPE.
- The proper care, maintenance, useful life and disposal of the PPE.
(Additional requirements apply to training on the use of respirators.) Training must be provided before the employee is permitted to perform the work requiring the PPE, and refresher training must be provided when:
- Changes in the workplace or in the types of PPE to be used render previous training obsolete; and
- Inadequacies in an affected employee's knowledge or use of assigned PPE indicate that the employee has not retained the requisite understanding or skill.
Any failure to provide PPE or the required training, deemed by OSHA to be "serious," can result in a fine of up to $7,000. Previously, administrative law judges and courts held that the regulations applied to employees in the aggregate, rather than individually. Under the new rule, which goes into effect on January 8, 2009, OSHA retains the discretion to issue PPE citations on a per-employee basis, thereby greatly increasing an employer's liability for non-compliance.
