Best practice for some jobs requires that employees wear specific protective equipment. This equipment is issued to individual employees so that it can be properly fitted. For example, workers in a manufacturing plant need ear plugs, police officers need bullet-proof vests, abatement workers need hazmat suits, painters need ventilation masks, and so on.
PPE helps to ensure workplace safety by:
Government regulatory agencies (such as OSHA in the U.S) typically require PPE for certain jobs; when regulations do not exist, a company's safety practices may call for the use of PPE as a general precaution.