Current approaches to evaluating personal protective equipment, such as gloves, respirators and fall-arrest harnesses, vary widely, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine.
Released Nov. 11, Certifying Personal Protective Technologies: Improving Worker Safety recommends NIOSH establish a comprehensive framework for PPE conformity assessment processes that would categorize products based on health and safety hazards and require an assessment for each degree of risk. Conformity assessment refers to a group of tests to ensure PPE performance.
Washington-based IOM also advised NIOSH to develop an electronic surveillance system to collect information on PPE failures and adverse outcomes.
