Certifying Personal Protective Technologies: Improving Worker Safety

When you purchase a product, you expect it to work. Construction workers on high-rise buildings need to be confident that their safety harnesses will arrest a fall. Firefighters need to know that their gloves and other protective equipment can withstand high temperatures. Healthcare workers administering highly toxic chemotherapy agents need to know that their gloves will withstand penetration. For personal protective technologies (PPT)-where the major purpose of the product is to protect the wearer against a hazard-a deficit in product effectiveness can mean injury, illness, or death. Examining the extent to which products meet specific performance or design criteria is the focus of conformity assessment efforts. For PPT conformity assessment, the ultimate goal is preventing worker illness, injury, or death from hazardous working conditions. Certifying Personal Protective Technologies focuses on conformity assessment for occupational PPT-ensuring that PPT are effective in preventing or reducing hazardous exposures or situations that workers face in their jobs. Because respirators already have an extensive testing and conformity assessment process in place, this book specifically addresses conformity assessment processes for other types of PPT, including eye and face protection, gloves, hearing protectors, and protective clothing. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Role of Government Agencies in Conformity Assessment 3 Current PPT Conformity Assessment Processes 4 Impact and Issues in Conformity Assessment for PPT 5 Conformity Assessment for Non-Respirator PPT: A Risk-Based Framework 6 Findings and Recommendations 7 Toward a Comprehensive Approach to Safe and Effective PPT for Workers Appendix A: Agendas of Public Meetings Appendix B: Workshop Participants Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members