PPE Inspection Checklist

Work the checklist below: for each PPE item, the condition, the expiry or replacement date, the storage — pass or fail, and the fail goes to the replacement list. The expiry rules below are the ones that actually matter: the ones with a legal or manufacturer date, and the ones where a single fall or a single contamination is the end of the items life.

How to use the tool

1. Set the site, the date, the inspector — the report header
2. Inspect each PPE category in order — head, eye, hand, foot, respiratory, fall protection, high-vis
3. Check condition against the failure signs — the checklist names them per item
4. Check the dates — the manufacturers expiry, the post-incident retirement, the service interval
5. Record the fails on the replacement list with owners and dates, and print the report — PPE that fails is removed from service, not re-inspected next month

Worked example

A 20-person workshop, PPE inspection. Head — 2 hard hats past the 5-year service life (replaced), 1 with a cracked shell (retired, the crack is the end of it). Eye — all pass. Hand — the welding gloves: 3 pairs with the inner lining exposed (replaced; the liner is the burn protection, and it is gone). Foot — 2 pairs of boots with the sole delaminating at the toe (replaced). Respiratory — the P100 cartridges: 2 sets past the change-out schedule (replaced), the full-face seals: 1 cracked (retired). Fall protection — the harnesses: 1 that caught a fall last quarter (already retired, confirmed), the rest within 5 years and inspected. 6 replacements, all on the list by end of day, the report printed and filed.

Standard & legal context

The UK PPE at Work Regulations 1992 require PPE to be maintained in an efficient state and efficient order — the inspection is the standard of maintenance, and the PPE must be replaced when it is damaged or has expired. The manufacturers service lives (the hard hats 5 years, the harnesses 5-year inspection, the cartridge change-out) are the binding dates. In the US, OSHA 1910.132 (general PPE), 1910.136 (head), 1910.138 (hands), ANSI Z87 (eye), 1910.100 (respiratory) set the equivalents, and a single fall retires a harness under 1910.140 practice. The dates below are the manufacturer and the standard, not a suggestion.

Common mistakes

1. It looks fine — PPE is inspected against the failure signs, not the feeling; the crack, the delamination, the exposed liner are the fails
2. Keeping the post-incident PPE — a harness that caught a fall is retired, full stop; the cartridge exposed to the release is retired, full stop
3. One issue date for everyone — the service life runs from the date of first use or the date of issue, whichever is earlier, and the roster tracks it
4. Storing PPE where it degrades — the harness in the sun, the respirator in the chemical store, the gloves on the bench by the welding: storage is part of the inspection