Payment for personal protective equipment — Construction

Scope

OSHA’s personal protective equipment covers all employers with employees performing construction work.

Regulatory citations

• 29 CFR 1926.95 — Criteria for personal protective equipment.

Key definitions

• Construction work: Work for construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating.
• Protective equipment: Personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers.

Summary of requirements

In general the standard requires covered employers to:

• Be responsible, where employees provide their own protective equipment, to assure its adequacy, including proper maintenance, fit, and sanitation of such equipment.
• Pay for, and provide at no cost to employees, most types of personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Not pay for non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or steel-toe boots) and nonspecialty prescription safety eyewear, provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job-site.
• The employer must pay for replacement PPE, except when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE.