OSHA’s New PPE Rule: Ensuring Proper Fit for Construction Workers

On December 11, 2024, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its construction rule to include a requirement that construction employers provide properly fitting safety gear to its workers by January 13, 2025. Previously, OSHA required employers to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) but did not mandate that it fit individual workers. This new rule requires employers to ensure that PPE such as hard hats, safety harnesses, gloves, and protective footwear properly fits each worker’s body size and shape.

Why the Change?

This change is part of OSHA’s broader efforts to enhance workplace safety, particularly for women as well as physically smaller or larger workers regardless of gender, where ill-fitting PPE has long been a concern. Although the new rule marks an important step toward addressing long-standing concerns about standardized PPE and fostering inclusivity in safety practices for women in construction, it applies to all workers.

Improperly fitting PPE can compromise safety, failing to protect workers effectively and potentially introducing new hazards. OSHA emphasized that properly fitting PPE is a cornerstone of any effective occupational safety program, and that this new rule aligns construction industry standards with those already in place for sectors like health care and manufacturing.

While some construction companies have voiced concerns about the subjectivity of determining what is and what is not a “proper fit,” OSHA has provided examples of ill-fitting gear, such as:

• oversized welding gloves,
• oversized clothing being caught in machinery, or
• long pants that could lead to tripping.

What This Entails for Employers

The Department of Labor’s notice explicitly states what “OSHA expects from employers: to select PPE for their workers that is appropriately designed and sized to adequately protect them from hazards without creating additional hazards.”

Employers are encouraged to review their current PPE policies and conduct an audit of their existing PPE inventory, among other things, to ensure compliance ahead of the January 2025 implementation date. Employers should also:

• review their employees’ PPE on an individual basis while in the field and consider implementing a documentation procedure to track compliance on jobsites.
• consider the increased costs, such as additional overhead and oversight, that these new requirements may generate when submitting bids for future jobs.

Should you have any questions about this new rule, please contact Jon Scandling, Stacey Sanderson, Drew Hanna, or any member of Frantz Ward’s Labor and Employment or Construction Practice Groups.