Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Standard - 29 CFR 1910.132

IM WY 2012-039
Instruction Memorandum

1112 (950) P
May 31, 2012
EMS Transmission: June 5, 2012
Instruction Memorandum No. WY-2012-039
Expires 9/30/2013
To: All Employees
From: State Director
Subject: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) Standard - 29 CFR 1910.132
Program Area: Safety and Occupational Health
Purpose: This Instructional Memorandum (IM) provides Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Wyoming policy for the purchase of PPE and Fire Resistant Clothing (FRC) for BLM employees
utilizing attachment 1. BLM policy and OSHA regulations require that all standard types of
necessary PPE must be provided to employees by the Bureau and purchased at Government
expense. The purchase and use of PPE is limited to employees who’s Risk Assessment (RA) for
their workplace/job series list identified/mandated PPE for the safe completion of work tasks or
operations. The State Safety Manager must approve all PPE purchases as outlined in BLM
Manual Handbook 1112-1, 15.4. C. This authority has been delegated to the District Safety
Managers as authorized per BLM Manual Handbook 1112-1, 15.4. C.
Policy/Action: FRC, like all employee uniform clothing articles and PPE, are expendable and
become the responsibility of the employee once worn to always be in a serviceable condition.
Once an item is unserviceable it shall be replaced before the employee returns to a given job or
area that requires the safety items to be worn.
With the approval of the Wyoming Management Team, the State Safety Manager and State
Business Manager have established cost ceilings on the purchase of PPE, i.e. insulated coveralls,
fire resistant coveralls/clothing, prescription safety glasses and safety (composite toe) boots. The
ceiling may be adjusted yearly according to the retail market and with approval from the
Wyoming Management Team. An approved/signed copy of a RA must accompany the purchase
documents for all PPE that is provided without cost to the employee or that is partially funded by
the Government unless the State or District Safety Manager has an approved/signed copy on
file. The cost ceiling on prescription safety glasses is $300 per year per employee. If an
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Wyoming State Office
P.O. Box 1828
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009-1828
IN REPLY REFER TO:
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employee has an extremely exceptional prescription, the Field Manager may approve any
additional costs. The cost ceiling on safety boots is $225 per employee. The employee may
supplement this amount with personal funds. The cost ceiling for insulated coveralls is $150 per
employee. The cost ceiling for FRC will be dependent on retail market prices for the local area.
Oil and Gas personnel buying FRC’s shall only purchase items with a permanent tag/label with
the following, (This garment meets the requirements of NFPA 2112, Standard on flame-resistant
garments for protection of industrial personnel against flash fire, 2012 edition. NFPA 2113
requires upper and lower body coverage). NOTE: Currently Bulwark is the sole manufacturer
of FRC clothing that meets DOI/BLM identification requirements, so only Bulwark FRC
clothing is authorized for all future purchases. Current FRC clothing in use by BLM
employees shall be replaced by Bulwark FRC clothing when it is no longer serviceable. This
IM will be re-issued/updated when other manufacturers of FRC come into compliance with
current DOI/BLM identification requirements.
The timeline for PPE/FRC purchases is April of each Fiscal_Year (FY) for spring and summer
related items and October of each FY for winter related items. Employees with purchase cards
are encouraged after discussion with their respective State/District Purchasing Agent to order
prescription safety glasses using the Federal Prison Industry (UNICOR) website,
http://www.unicor.gov/index.htm. Employees that do not have a purchase card should place
their order through the District Purchasing Agent or State Office Procurement Staff. If UNICOR
is utilized, then all orders must be tracked to insure the employee receives their prescription
safety glasses in a reasonable amount of time. If UNICOR cannot guarantee delivery in 7-10
calendar days, an alternate approved supplier can be used. All other PPE, i.e. safety glasses,
safety boots, insulated coveralls/clothing may be purchased at any local vendor as long as they
comply with appropriate safety standards. (Please work with your State/District Safety Manager
or a member of State/Field Office Procurement Staff.) NOTE: Purchases must not exceed
$3,000 for the entire staff for any given Field Office/Work Section or the order must go out for
bid per the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR.) In addition Split Purchasing is not
authorized. See your respective State/District/Field Office Purchasing Agent for further
clarification and guidance of Split Purchases and micro purchase request.
Timeframe: This policy is effective immediately.
Budget Impact: No budgetary increase is expected to result from the initiation of this policy.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None
Coordination: District Safety Managers, District Field Managers, Procurement and the
Wyoming Management Team
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Contact: If we can offer any assistance to answer questions or concerns regarding this policy,
please contact David W. Scott, State Safety/Health Manager, 307-775-6269, Robin Wellhouse,
HDD Safety Manager 307-212-7350, Jim E. Beason, WBBD/HPD Safety Manager,
307-261-7750 or Janet Edmonds, Business Manager, 307-775-6007.
Signed By: Authenticated By:
Donald A. Simpson Sherry Dixon
State Director Secretary
1 Attachment
1 - Safety Office Approval for Purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (1 p)
Distribution
Director (740), 1120 20th St. 1
CF 1