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Safety & OSHAaka: PPEaka: safety gearaka: protective gear

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

In Plain English

Safety gear worn by workers to protect against job site hazards, including hard hats, gloves, and safety glasses.

Definition

Personal protective equipment (PPE) includes all clothing and equipment worn by workers to minimize exposure to hazards that could cause serious injuries or illness. Construction PPE includes hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, high-visibility vests, steel-toed boots, hearing protection, respirators, and fall arrest harnesses. OSHA requires employers to perform a hazard assessment, provide appropriate PPE at no cost to workers, and ensure its proper use.

Why It Matters in Bidding

PPE requirements affect both safety compliance and bid cost, since OSHA generally requires employers to provide most PPE at no cost to workers, which estimators should fold into labor burden or general conditions. A weak safety program also raises a contractor's experience modification rate, increasing workers' comp premiums that flow directly into every labor rate on a bid.

Example

An estimator building general conditions includes a line for hard hats, high-visibility vests, and fall-arrest harnesses required by the site-specific safety plan, plus the cost of a competent person to inspect them.

Related Terms

Hard HatFall Arrest SystemOSHASite Safety Plan

Frequently Asked Questions

In most cases yes. OSHA requires employers to provide required PPE at no cost to workers, with limited exceptions such as everyday steel-toed boots and prescription safety eyewear that employees take off-site. Employers must also conduct a hazard assessment and ensure workers are trained in proper use and maintenance.
PPE is usually captured in general conditions, labor burden, or a project safety budget rather than priced per task. Estimators account for consumables like gloves and glasses, specialized gear such as respirators or harnesses for specific scopes, and the cost of inspections and replacement over the project duration.
Common requirements include hard hats, safety glasses, high-visibility apparel, and protective footwear, with task-specific additions like hearing protection, respirators, cut-resistant gloves, and fall-arrest systems. The exact list flows from the hazard assessment and the project's site-specific safety plan, which often exceeds the OSHA minimum on larger commercial jobs.

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