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Toolbox Talks

Boots and gloves that match the job

Boots and gloves that match the job

PPE 5 min 29 CFR 1926.95 · 29 CFR 1926.96

Why it matters

The employer provides the protection this job needs, and the crew wears it. Boots for a slick slab are not the same as boots for hot metal. Gloves that stop a cut from sheet metal can catch in a spinning bit. Match the gear to the ground and to the task in your hands.

The talk

You step off the truck onto rebar, wet mud, a slick slab, or a roof with loose granules. The shoes you wore to the store may not be the boots this ground needs. Then the task changes in your hands. Sheet metal. A chemical jug. A grinder. One pair of gloves does not fit all three. The employer provides the protection the job needs, and the crew wears it. That means boots for the surface you walk on, and gloves that match the task. Gear sitting in the gang box does not help the person standing in the mud.

Put on the boots the site provides for this ground. If the walking surface is slick, sharp, or hot, say so before you start. Do not slide around in the wrong pair. For your hands, match the glove to the task. Sheet metal and sharp edges need a cut glove. The product in the jug needs the glove the label calls for, a chemical glove, not a cloth pair that soaks through. A spinning bit is different. Do not wear gloves at a drill press or a grinder if they can catch and pull your hand in. A loose cuff at a wheel can take the glove and the hand with it. If you are not sure, take the glove off for that tool or ask the foreman before you start it.

Look at your feet and your hands before the first task today. If the boots do not match the surface, get the pair the site provides. If you are on sheet metal, put on the cut gloves. If you are handling the product in the jug, put on the glove that matches the label. If you are going to a drill press or a grinder, look at the gloves. If they can catch, they come off for that work. Tell the foreman if the right glove or the right boot is not in the gang box. Do not grab a pair from the truck and hope it is close enough for this task.

Key points

  1. The employer provides the protection the job needs. The crew wears it.
  2. Boots match the surface you walk on.
  3. Use cut gloves for sheet metal and sharp edges.
  4. Use the chemical glove the label calls for.
  5. Do not wear gloves at a drill press or a grinder if they can pull your hand in.
  6. If the right gear is missing, tell the foreman before you start.
  7. A glove that is right for one task can be wrong for the next.

Do this

  • Wear the boots the site provides for the surface you are on.
  • Use cut gloves for sheet metal and sharp edges.
  • Use the chemical glove the label calls for.
  • Take off gloves at a drill press or grinder if they can catch.
  • Tell the foreman when the right boot or glove is not on site.

Do not do this

  • Do not wear street shoes on a surface that needs the site boots.
  • Do not use a cloth glove for a chemical the label says needs a chemical glove.
  • Do not wear gloves at a drill press or a grinder if they can pull your hand in.
  • Do not assume one pair of gloves is fine for every task today.
  • Do not start the task if the protection the job needs is missing.

Talk about it

  1. What surface are we walking on today, and do these boots match it?
  2. Which task needs cut gloves, and which task needs the glove on the label?
  3. Who is on a drill press or a grinder, and should the gloves come off for that tool?

This is a short crew briefing. It does not replace a competent person, training, or the law.

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