Paint Safety Guideline #5: Personal

protective equipment (PPE)

Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety goggles, earplugs, respirators, gloves, and protective footwear
can help protect workers against injury and exposure to
hazardous materials. If other prevention methods (for
example, substitution) are not feasible or your workers
require additional protection, then you should consider
PPE that is appropriate for the products being used in
your paint department. In some cases PPE is required
even if other controls are in place.

Worker responsibilities
Workers are responsible for the following:
Use any required PPE as instructed.
Inspect PPE before each use.
Report any equipment malfunctions to the supervisor
or employer.

PPE is the last line of defense

Although PPE is a useful form of prevention, you should
not rely on it alone to protect workers against exposures to
hazardous materials. Before resorting to PPE, you should
rst consider substitution, engineering controls, and administrative controls, and use them wherever possible. For more
information, see the following information sheets:
Paint Safety Guideline #2: Substitution Choices for Common Products
Paint Safety Guideline #3: Ventilation
Paint Safety Guideline #4: Paint-Spraying Systems

Employer responsibilities

Ensure that the equipment is cleaned, maintained, and

stored as described in training.

Air-purifying respirators:
Restrictions
Air-purifying respirators must not be used in the following circumstances:
when working in an oxygen-decient environment
when a hazardous concentration is at a level that is
immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH)

Employers are responsible for the following:

for half-mask respirators, when the concentration of

the contaminant is 10 times the exposure limit

Educate and train workers in the proper use and limitations of PPE.

if the worker has not been t tested

if the worker is not clean shaven

Make PPE available to workers and ensure that they

use it when necessary.

when spraying respiratory sensitizers (for example,

isocyanates, urethanes, and materials containing resin)

Ensure that PPE is cleaned, inspected, maintained, and

stored as required.

Safety and Health in Arts Production and Entertainment (SHAPE) Suite 2801385 West 8th Ave Vancouver, BC V6H 3V9
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Paint Safety Guideline #5: Personal Protective Equipment

when the worker has a medical condition (for example,

asthma, heart disease, or high blood pressure)

Types of PPE
This section describes a few guidelines for commonly
used PPE, including respirators, gloves, hearing protection, protective clothing, and steel-toed boots.

Respirators
Respirators should be t-tested at least once a year. If a
new respirator is used, it must be t-tested rst. Contact
SHAPE to have t-tests performed at your workplace for
free.
Except for specialty eyewear approved by WorkSafe BC
for use with positive pressure full facepiece respirators,

PPE requirements for painting*

Painting
method
Brush

Product

Respirator
cartridge
N/A

N/A

Organic vapour

Nitrile

Safety
glasses

Products containing Air-supplied full

isocyanates
face
Latex paints
Not required in
well-ventilated
areas
Oil-based
Air-purifying half
products
mask

N/A

Nitrile

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Organic vapour

Nitrile

Safety
glasses

Products containing Air-supplied full

isocyanates
face
Latex paints
Air-purifying half
mask

N/A

Nitrile

N/A

Organic vapour
with P100
particulate lter
Organic vapour
with P100
particulate lter

Nitrile

N/A

Nitrile

Safety
glasses or
goggles
Goggles (if
using a half
mask
respirator)
N/A

Latex paints

Oil-based
products

Roller

Spray
system

Oil-based
products

Respirator
Not required in
well-ventilated
areas
Air-purifying half
mask

Air-purifying
full or half mask

Products containing Air-supplied full

isocyanates
face

Gloves

Nitrile

Eye
protection
N/A

Hearing
Protective
protection
clothing
Depends on Long sleeves,
noise sources pants, or
coveralls
Depends on Long sleeves,
noise sources pants, or
coveralls
Depends on Tyvek suit
noise sources
Depends on Long sleeves,
noise sources pants, or
coveralls
Depends on Long sleeves,
noise sources pants, or
coveralls
Depends on Tyvek suit
noise sources
Yes
Tyvek suit

Yes

Tyvek suit

Yes

Tyvek suit

* Note: Table 1 is a basic guideline only; it assumes that painting is being done in a well-ventilated area, a spray booth, or outdoors
with appropriate controls in place. It also assumes that workers are using low to moderate quantities of paint. If larger quantities
of paint are involved, use more stringent controls to ensure worker safety. In any case, you should always perform a risk assessment
before painting and refer to material safety data sheets (MSDSs) for specic information on appropriate PPE for the product being
used.
Note: Workers should always use full-face air-supplied respirators when working with isocyanates because they have no warning
signs and are extremely toxic. Furthermore, respirator cartridges have no effective end-of-life service indicator for cartridge replacement.

Paint Safety Guideline #5: Personal Protective Equipment

nothing is permitted which intrudes between the facepiece and the face, or which interferes with the face seal
of the facepiece.
A worker required to wear a respirator which requires
an effective seal with the face for proper functioning
must be clean shaven where the respirator seals with the
face.

Fit-tests
A respirator which requires an effective seal with the
face for proper functioning must not be issued to a
worker unless a t test demonstrates that the facepiece
forms an effective seal with the wearers face. This does
not apply to a single use (disposable) respirator unless the
manufacturers instructions indicate that a t test can be
performed.
Other personal protective equipment that is to be worn
at the same time as a respirator and which could interfere
with the respirator t must be worn during a t test.
After a respirator is issued to a worker, the t test must
be repeated at least annually to ensure that the face seal
remains effective.

Fit-check
Before each use of a respirator which requires an effective seal with the face for proper functioning, a worker
must perform a positive and negative pressure t check.
This does not apply to a single use (disposable) respirator, or to the emergency use of an escape respirator.
If a worker is required to use a respirator and there is
doubt about the workers ability to use a respirator for

medical reasons, the worker must be examined by a physician, and the examining physician must be provided
with sufcient information to allow the physician to
advise the employer of the ability of the worker to wear a
respirator.
Gloves
Follow these basic guidelines for gloves:
Nitrile gloves are best for general painting, but be
sure to change them after every break to prevent breakthrough.
Neoprene gloves should be used for all solvent and
cleaning procedures.
Latex gloves are not recommended because they are an
allergen and do not provide sufcient protection.
Cotton gloves are a good option to prevent skin rashes
while applying plasters.
Be sure to check Material Safety Data Sheets for
appropriate gloves.
Hearing protection
Occupational hearing loss is the third-most-common
occupational disease after tendonitis and bursitis. Workers who are using power tools or working around noise
sources should wear hearing protection such as earmuffs
or earplugs. Workers who are exposed to noise that is
85 dBA or greater should receive annual hearing tests to
monitor their hearing over time. Employers can contact
SHAPE to arrange for hearing tests.

Note: This publication does not replace the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation administered by the Workers Compensation Board of British Columbia.
Employers and workers should always refer to the Regulation for specic requirements that apply to their activities.

Paint Safety Guideline #5: Personal Protective Equipment

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) rates hearing

protection as Class A,B,C or Grade 0,1,2,3,4, depending
on the amount of noise reduction the protector provides,
The recommended protection for an eight-hour noise
exposure is:
Lex,8(dBA)
90
95
100
105
110

Grade
1
2
3
4
Dual*

Class
C
B
A
A

*Dual hearing protection required. Use a minimum of

a Grade 2 or Class B earmuff and a Grade 3 or Class A
earplug.
Other factors are just as important as the noise level of
the job:
Your hearing ability
Your need to communicate on the job
Temperature and climate
Size of your ear canal, shape of head and jaw
Safety eyewear
A worker must wear properly tting safety eyewear appropriate to the conditions of the workplace if handling
or exposed to materials which are likely to injure or
irritate the eyes.

as instructed, workers can avoid bringing contaminated

clothing home and possibly exposing their families
and friends to hazardous materials from the workplace.
Employers must provide body protection when workers
are exposed to skin-irritating paints and paints that can
be absorbed through the skin. For a list of skin-irritating products, see Table 1 in the information sheet Paint
Safety Guideline #2: Substitution Choices for Common
Products.
Safety footwear
Painters should always wear closed-toe shoes. The Regulation does not require painters to wear steel-toed boots
in general, but employers are required to perform a risk
assessment to determine if safety footwear is necessary in
a specic workplace. The risk assessment should consider
the presence of objects that may pose a threat of damaging workers toes. It is generally recommended that
painters wear steel-toed boots while:
working on sets
carrying and handling heavy materials
walking through areas where others are working with
heavy objects
working where nails or other sharp objects could penetrate their footwear
Further information

Protective clothing

For more information, see the following sections of the

Occupational Health and Safety Regulation ,
(http://regulation.healthandsafetycentre.org):

Protective clothing helps prevent the contamination of

regular clothing and skin. By using protective clothing

Part 8, Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment

Sections 7.1 to 7.9 (Division 1, Noise Exposure)

2006 Safety and Health in Arts Production and Entertainment (SHAPE). All rights reserved.
SHAPE
that SHAPE is acknowledged. However, no part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, or distributed for prot or other commercial
enterprise, nor may any part be incorporated into any other publication, without written permission of SHAPE.

Rev Jan/06