What actions should you take if PPE is discovered to be damaged during work?

• A. Stop work, remove damaged PPE from service, tag and report, and obtain replacement before continuing
• B. Continue with work wearing remaining PPE
• C. Repair PPE on-site with tape
• D. Ignore and proceed

Answer: (A)

When PPE is damaged, treat it as unsafe and remove it from service immediately. Stop work, take the damaged equipment out of use, place a tag on it to indicate it’s unusable, and report the damage so a replacement can be issued. Then obtain a proper replacement and inspect it before continuing. This approach ensures you don’t rely on compromised protection, which could fail and lead to injury. Repairs or temporary fixes aren’t acceptable because they may not restore the PPE’s protective function, and continuing work with damaged gear is unsafe. Ignoring the damage or trying to patch it with tape can create a false sense of security and violate safety procedures.