OSHA requires that all PPE, with few exceptions, be provided at no cost to the employee.
Employers are not required to pay for uniforms, caps, or other clothing worn solely to identify a person as an employee.
Additionally, it does not require payment for items worn:
- To keep employees clean for purposes unrelated to safety or health such as blue jeans, aprons or other apparel, when worn solely to prevent clothing and/or skin from becoming soiled; and
- For product safety, consumer safety, or patient safety and health, rather than employee safety and health such as requiring food service employees to wear hairnets for food safety purposes.