OSHA requires you to keep all PPE in sanitary, reliable condition and pull any damaged equipment from service before the shift starts.
What are your baseline obligations for every PPE inspection?
You must ensure all personal protective equipment is maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever hazards capable of causing injury are present. If you find defective or damaged gear, it shall not be used. That requirement is the foundation of 29 CFR 1910.132(a) and 1910.132(e). On a construction site, this means you or your supervisor check gear before the shift starts and after any incident that could have caused damage.
How do you inspect head protection?
Check the shell and the suspension separately. Look for cracks, dents, penetration, chalking from UV degradation, loss of surface gloss, and brittleness. Inspect the suspension for torn or frayed straps, cracked leather, broken stitching, and defective locking mechanisms. The date of manufacture is molded into the shell. While OSHA does not set a federal replacement interval for hard hats, the five-year manufacturer guideline is standard industry practice. Any visible damage triggers immediate replacement regardless of age. Suspensions typically have a much shorter lifespan than the shell itself and must be replaced more frequently.
Under 29 CFR 1926.100, head protection must meet ANSI Z89.1. Only Class E helmets are tested to 20,000 volts and Class G to 2,200 volts; Class C provides no electrical protection. Drilling holes for ventilation, covering cracks with stickers, or painting with non-approved products voids the ANSI rating and violates 1910.132.
How do you inspect eye, face, and hearing protection?
For safety glasses and goggles, look for scratched or pitted lenses, cracked or broken frames, deteriorated headband material, and loose retaining straps. Even minor scratches can distort vision and create a secondary hazard. Under 29 CFR 1926.102, eye and face protection must meet ANSI/ISEA Z87.1. When there is a hazard from flying objects, workers must have side protection. A face shield is secondary protection only and must be worn over primary safety glasses or goggles; letting a worker wear a face shield alone is a direct violation.
For hearing protection under 29 CFR 1910.95, inspect foam earplugs for dirt, damage, hardening, or loss of pliability. Discard them when they no longer rebound to their original shape after compression. For earmuffs, check cushion seals for cracks, hardening, or tears, and verify headband tension.
When do gloves and boots fail inspection?
There is no universal glove that protects against every hazard. Under 29 CFR 1910.138, you must select hand protection based on the specific task, conditions, duration, and hazards present. Inspect gloves for chemical saturation, thermal burns, severe cuts, punctures, and loss of pliability. One of the most common citation patterns involves workers using thin disposable gloves for solvents or corrosives where chemical breakthrough occurs in less than five minutes. Once breakthrough happens, the glove must be replaced.
For footwear, 29 CFR 1910.136 and the construction criteria at 29 CFR 1926.95 require protective footwear that meets ASTM F-2412/F-2413. Check that boots still show the proper impact and compression ratings, typically marked as I/75 or I/50 and C/75 or C/50. Worn soles, exposed steel, or soft-toed athletic shoes on a site requiring protection fail the inspection immediately.
Decision aid: Keep, clean, or remove from service?
| Condition | Head | Eye / Face | Hands / Feet | Hi-Vis | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crack, cut, or puncture | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Remove from service |
| UV chalking, brittleness, or loss of gloss | ✓ | — | — | — | Remove from service |
| Lens scratched enough to impair vision | — | ✓ | — | — | Remove from service |
| Chemical saturation or breakthrough | — | — | ✓ | — | Remove from service |
| Faded, soiled, or retroreflectivity degraded | — | — | — | ✓ | Replace; do not relaunder |
| Intact but dirty | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | Clean per manufacturer |
When is high-visibility apparel no longer compliant?
Hi-vis garments lose compliance when they are soiled, faded, or modified. Under 29 CFR 1926.201(a), construction workers exposed to public vehicular traffic must wear high-visibility warning garments that meet ANSI/ISEA 107. These garments rely on two distinct properties: fluorescence for daytime visibility and retroreflectivity for low-light conditions. Grease, dirt, and other contamination degrade both. If retroreflectivity is gone, replace the garment. Do not just relaunder it. Cutting or altering the design also drops the performance rating immediately.
What are the respirator inspection rules?
If your site requires respirators, you must inspect each unit before every use and during cleaning. Emergency-use respirators must be inspected at least monthly. Under 29 CFR 1910.134(h), check for proper function, tightness of connections, facepiece condition, head straps, valves, connecting tube, and cartridges. If you find a defect, remove the respirator from service immediately and discard, repair, or adjust it. Do not let a worker borrow a questionable respirator while you figure it out later.
What extra checks apply to voltage-rated gear?
When workers use rubber insulating gloves, sleeves, blankets, or line hose, the rules tighten. Under 29 CFR 1910.137, rubber insulating gloves require a visual inspection and an air test before each day's use. Inflate the glove and listen or feel for escaping air. Look for punctures, tears, cuts, embedded objects, texture changes, ozone checking, and chemical contamination. Verify the voltage class marking on the equipment; classes run from Class 00 (500 V max) through Class 4 (36,000 V). Class 00 gloves are routinely misused on higher-voltage tasks because they offer better dexterity, but the voltage class must match or exceed actual exposure.
Rubber insulating gloves must be electrically retested every six months. Sleeves and blankets are on a twelve-month cycle. The test date stamp is the last laboratory test date, not an expiration date, and the certification can be maintained in logs instead of marked on the equipment under the note to 1910.137(c)(2)(xii). Gloves must also be worn with leather protectors unless you can demonstrate that physical damage is unlikely and you use a glove one class higher than required.
How do you document inspections so they hold up?
OSHA does not prescribe a single daily inspection log format for general PPE, but it does require a written certification of your hazard assessment under 29 CFR 1910.132(d)(2). That certification must identify the workplace evaluated, the person certifying the evaluation, the date or dates of the assessment, and it must be labeled explicitly as a certification of hazard assessment. Vague identifiers like "the shop" or "the plant" often draw citations. Keep this document current and specific, and refresh it whenever processes or hazards change.
For voltage-rated gear, test results and dates can be maintained in logs per 1910.137. You should also keep training records showing workers were taught to recognize damage before they were allowed to work. A supervisor who sees a worker skip an inspection and says nothing sets a new standard for the crew; consistent enforcement and documented training are your best defense.
Who pays for replacement PPE?
You do. Under 29 CFR 1910.132(h), the employer must pay for required PPE and for replacement when it is damaged through work-related activities. The only narrow exceptions are non-specialty safety-toe footwear and prescription safety glasses that remain the employee's personal property. If you charge a worker for a damaged hard hat, glove, or hi-vis vest, you are inviting a citation.
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FAQ
Does OSHA require a written log for every daily PPE inspection?
No. OSHA does not prescribe a specific daily log format for general PPE. It does require a written certification of the hazard assessment under 29 CFR 1910.132(d)(2), and it mandates specific inspection protocols for respirators under 29 CFR 1910.134(h) and voltage-rated gear under 29 CFR 1910.137. You should keep records that prove your program is enforced and that workers are trained to spot damage.
Can workers repair cracked hard hats with tape or stickers?
No. Unauthorized modifications such as drilling ventilation holes, using adhesive stickers to hide cracks, or painting with non-approved products reduce effectiveness or make damage impossible to inspect. These actions void the ANSI Z89.1 rating and violate 29 CFR 1910.132.
How often must rubber insulating gloves be retested?
Rubber insulating gloves must be electrically retested every six months under 29 CFR 1910.137(c)(2)(viii). Rubber insulating sleeves and blankets must be retested every twelve months.
What should you do if PPE is damaged during a shift?
Remove it from service immediately per 29 CFR 1910.132(e). The employer must pay for the replacement if the gear is required by OSHA standards, as required by 29 CFR 1910.132(h).
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The Jobsite Editorial Team — Construction safety & OSHA compliance
The Jobsite Editorial Team writes the safety and compliance library behind Jobsite, the construction safety, OSHA compliance, and training platform for contractors. Every article starts from the primary regulatory text — the CFR section itself, not a summary of it — and is fact-checked against that source before it publishes, so what you read here is what the standard actually requires of small and mid-size contractors in the field.