April 2026
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Inside the April
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Workplace PPE
Inventory Management
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
requires that employers protect employees from workplace hazards
that can cause injury or illness. Controlling a hazard at its
source is the best way to protect workers. However, when engineering,
work practice and administrative controls are not feasible
or do not provide sufficient protection, employers must provide
personal protective equipment (PPE) to you and ensure its use.
PPE is equipment worn to minimize exposure to a variety of hazards. Examples include items such as gloves, foot and eye protection, protective hearing protection (earplugs, muffs), hard hats and respirators. Workplace PPE Inventory Management ensures that essential safety gear—like gloves, masks, and eye protection—is available when needed, while reducing waste and maintaining compliance with safety standards like OSHA.
Employers Must Pay for PPE
In 2008, the OSHA rule about employer payment for PPE
went into effect. With few exceptions, OSHA now requires employers
to pay for personal protective equipment used to comply with OSHA standards. The final rule does not create new
requirements regarding what PPE employers must provide.
The standard makes clear that employers cannot require
workers to provide their own PPE and the worker’s use of
PPE they already own must be completely voluntary. Even
when a worker provides his or her own PPE, the employer
must ensure that the equipment is adequate to protect the
worker from hazards at the workplace.
Payment Exceptions under the OSHA Rule
Employers are not required to pay for some PPE in certain
circumstances:
Non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including
steel-toe shoes or boots) and non-specialty prescription safety
eyewear provided that the employer permits such items to be
worn off the job site. (OSHA based this decision on the fact
that this type of equipment is very personal, is often used outside
the workplace, and that it is taken by workers from jobsite
to jobsite and employer to employer.)
Everyday clothing, such as long-sleeve
shirts, long pants, street shoes, and normal
work boots.
Ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other
items, used solely for protection from
weather, such as winter coats, jackets,
gloves, parkas, rubber boots, hats, raincoats,
ordinary sunglasses, and sunscreen.
Items such as hair nets and gloves worn
by food workers for consumer safety.
Lifting belts because their value in protecting the back is questionable. When the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE and it must be replaced.
Workplace PPE inventory management is the systematic process of tracking, storing, and organizing personal protective equipment—such as masks, gloves, and helmets—throughout its lifecycle to ensure employee safety, regulatory compliance, and operational continuity. It involves monitoring stock levels, automating reordering, and tracking usage to prevent shortages. Full story »
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