Food Safety OSHA FDA

Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Food Facilities

This course covers proper selection, use, and care of personal protective equipment required to protect workers and products in food manufacturing facilities.

~25 min

Part of emPower's Food Safety compliance training .

About this course

This course covers personal protective equipment (PPE) in food manufacturing facilities, which serves a dual purpose: protecting workers from workplace hazards and protecting product from contamination introduced by workers. It covers hearing and eye protection, cut-resistant gloves, hard hats, and hazard-specific gear alongside food-safety-driven PPE such as hairnets, beard nets, food-grade gloves, and smocks.

Worker-protective PPE is governed by OSHA's General Industry standards on Personal Protective Equipment, 29 CFR 1910.132 through 1910.138, which require employers to assess workplace hazards, provide appropriate PPE at no cost to employees, and train employees on when and how to use it. Separately, food-contact PPE such as hairnets, gloves, and protective outerwear is a core element of the FDA's GMP requirements for personnel under 21 CFR Part 117, intended to prevent contamination of food, food-contact surfaces, and packaging.

This course is intended for all employees, since both categories of PPE — safety-driven and food-safety-driven — apply throughout production, sanitation, warehouse, and maintenance areas.

After completing this course, learners will understand which PPE is required in which areas of the facility, know how to properly wear, inspect, and maintain their assigned PPE, and understand the consequences of improper or missing PPE for both worker safety and product integrity.

Topics covered

  • Safety PPE: eye, hearing, hand, and head protection
  • Food-contact PPE: hairnets, beard nets, gloves, and smocks
  • Proper donning, doffing, and maintenance
  • Area-specific PPE requirements

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