Woodworking Safety Equipment: Choosing Protection for Each Hazard

NIOSH ranks personal protective equipment last of its five levels of control and advises against relying on it alone when other effective controls are available; the woodworking safety rules set out that hierarchy for a shop. In practice it means protective equipment does not replace the guard, the riving knife, the fence, the clamps, the push stick, the dust collector or a machine set up as its manual says. Machine procedures are on the machine pages, such as table saw safety and band saw safety.

Two kinds of source appear below. OSHA's standards and booklets are rules and guidance for employers; they describe good practice, but OSHA does not regulate a private home shop. NIOSH approves respirators and publishes recommendations; an approval says what a product was tested for, not that it suits every job.

• Everyday glasses are not enough. OSHA's PPE guidance says ordinary prescription lenses do not give adequate protection, so a wearer needs safety eyewear made to the prescription or protection that fits over it. Grizzly's lathe manual says the same of everyday eyeglasses.
• Side protection matters at a machine. OSHA's rule for employers calls for side protection where objects can fly, and for eye protection that meets the ANSI Z87.1 editions it names. The markings that standard defines are in the paid standard, so this page does not interpret them; check the maker's stated compliance on the product itself.
• A face shield is not a substitute for glasses. OSHA's guidance says face shields protect against splashes and sprays but are not adequate against impact, and are worn with goggles or safety spectacles. That is why a turner wears both: Grizzly's lathe manual asks for a face shield and safety glasses together, which answers most questions about woodturning safety equipment for the face.

• Three kinds. NIOSH lists earplugs, which sit in the ear canal; earmuffs, which surround the outer ear; and canal caps, which cover the canal entrance on a light band. Comfort is what makes people keep wearing them, and no single kind is the most comfortable for everyone.
• The rating is not your protection. Makers print a noise reduction rating (NRR) on the packaging, but NIOSH says it often does not reflect what a person actually gets; fit decides that. In workplaces, a fit test gives a personal attenuation rating. Without one, NIOSH's check for earplugs is to count aloud while cupping and uncupping your hands over your ears: with a good fit your voice sounds about the same.
• No subtraction sums. OSHA's Appendix B gives employers specific methods for judging attenuation from the NRR and a worker's measured exposure; subtracting a protector's NRR from a machine's sound figure is not one of them. Machine makers' decibel figures often omit their test conditions, so BenchRoot calculates no protected exposure.
• Limits and doubling up. OSHA's workplace limit is 90 dBA averaged over eight hours, with action from 85 dBA; NIOSH recommends 85 dBA. NIOSH recommends earmuffs over earplugs for workplace exposures of 100 dBA or more or for impulse noise, and warns against overprotection that leaves people unable to hear what is around them.
• Fit with other equipment. Try earmuffs with the glasses you will wear under them; OSHA's guidance says items worn together must be compatible.

Dust is controlled first where it is made, with collection at the tool and room filtering, as the dust collector guide and shop vacuum guide explain. A respirator covers what capture leaves, and only if it is the right kind and fits.

• Check the approval. NIOSH says an approved filtering facepiece respirator states NIOSH and its protection level, such as N95, and carries a TC approval number you can check on NIOSH's Certified Equipment List. OSHA's rule calls a filtering facepiece a 'dust mask', but the same words are used for masks with no approval at all; only the approval marking tells them apart.
• Read the class correctly. NIOSH sets nine classes for these respirators: N, R and P for not, somewhat and strongly resistant to oil, each at 95, 99 or 99.97 percent filter efficiency, the last labelled 100. The class describes the filter; it does not say a respirator suits a particular dust or concentration.
• Particles only. NIOSH says filtering facepiece respirators do not protect against gases or vapours. OSHA's Appendix D, written for people who use a respirator voluntarily, warns that a respirator for dust will not protect against gases, vapours, or the very small particles of fumes or smoke. An air-purifying respirator cleans the surrounding air; it supplies none.
• Fit is the rest. A respirator seals against the face. NIOSH says filtering facepiece respirators require fit testing, and that a user seal check does not replace it. Outside a workplace program, Appendix D's advice is to follow the maker's instructions on use, cleaning and limits, choose a respirator certified for the contaminant, and keep your own respirator as yours.
• Finishes are a different hazard. Vapours from finishes and solvents are not stopped by a particle filter. What protection a product needs is on its label and in Section 8 of its safety data sheet; wood finish safety covers finishing hazards, and this page gives no cartridge chart.

• No gloves at rotating machinery. Grizzly's lathe manual says not to wear gloves, a necktie or loose clothing at the lathe, and the safety rules apply the same caution to moving parts generally.
• Gloves for a task, not for the shop. OSHA's guidance says gloves are chosen for the specific hazard, and that a glove designed for one job may not protect against another. Work gloves suit handling rough boards away from the machines; the same manual asks for disposable gloves when cleaning off rust preventative with a degreaser.
• Chemical gloves follow the chemical. No glove material suits every finish or solvent. Section 8 of the product's SDS names the glove material and its breakthrough time, and OSHA's guidance says to consult the glove maker's recommendations.
• Cut is not puncture. ANSI/ISEA 105 rates cut resistance from A1 to A9 and tests puncture separately with a pointed probe, so a high cut rating does not mean a knife point cannot go through. Carving gloves are covered with carving tools.

OSHA requires employers to provide protective footwear where workers face falling or rolling objects, objects piercing the sole, or certain electrical hazards; whether that describes your shop is a matter of the work, and this page sets no footwear rule for a home shop. Loose clothing, jewellery and long hair are a machine hazard rather than an equipment question: Grizzly's manual asks for long hair kept away from the spindle, and the safety rules cover the rest.

OSHA's PPE guidance makes three points that apply in any shop: equipment that does not fit may not protect and is less likely to be worn; items worn together — glasses under a face shield, earmuffs with glasses, a respirator with goggles — must be compatible; and gloves are inspected for tears and punctures before each use. Clean, store and replace each item as its maker says; a respirator's own instructions say when its filters are spent.

Tools themselves are mapped in the hand tools guide and the power tools guide.