Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Reviewed by Dasha ShakovVP Marketing, Proton
Updated
What is PPE?
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is gear worn to protect a worker from injury or exposure, such as gloves, safety glasses, hard hats and respirators. Hearing protection, high-visibility vests and protective clothing count too, and safety, MRO, jan/san and medical distributors all sell PPE.
How it works
PPE is chosen by size, protection rating and certification, so complete product attributes matter. A glove listed without its cut-resistance level can’t be compared with others or safely substituted.
PPE example
A construction customer orders ten cases of cut-resistant gloves in three sizes. Before entering it, the CSR confirms the cut level the customer’s safety manager specified, since a lower-rated glove would not be an acceptable swap.
Related terms
- Maintenance, repair and operations (MRO)Maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies are what a business uses to keep its buildings, equipment and people working, not what it makes or sells.
- Janitorial and sanitation (jan/san) distributorA janitorial and sanitation (jan/san) distributor sells cleaning chemicals, paper goods, trash liners and floor-care equipment to building cleaners.
- Safety data sheet (SDS)A safety data sheet (SDS) is a standardized document that describes a chemical product’s hazards and how to handle, store and dispose of it safely.
- Product attributesProduct attributes are the structured facts that describe a product, such as size, material, voltage or certification, each stored in its own field.
