10.7.6 Personal Protective Equipment
Other personal protective equipment occupies the lowest level of the RPS S-1 hierarchy because its protection depends on correct selection, fit, condition, and use.
Conventional workplace PPE, including hard hats, safety footwear, eye protection, and fall-arrest equipment, protects against concurrent hazards but ordinarily provides little shielding from RF fields. Thermally insulating PPE may also increase heat strain and should be considered in the assessment.
RF-related PPE or protective equipment may include:
- RF protective garments or suits designed and validated for a specialized application;
- RF protective gloves or other insulating materials selected to reduce contact-current risk;
- insulated tools, mats, or barriers for a defined indirect-contact hazard; and
- other purpose-designed equipment specified for the source and task.
Such equipment is uncommon outside specialized applications and should not be the primary means of controlling direct RF exposure where higher-order controls are reasonably practicable.
Users must be trained and supervised, understand the equipment's limitations, inspect it before use, and maintain and replace it as specified by the manufacturer. The assessment should also consider restricted movement, visibility, communication, and heat burden.
10.7.7 Combining Control Measures
The hierarchy does not mean that only one control is selected. It guides the order in which options are considered and encourages several independent layers where a single control could fail.
For example, a rooftop site may use antenna height and orientation, barriers and locked access, Controlled Area signs, a planned and verified transmitter outage for close work, coordination with other operators, and a personal RF monitor as a supplementary warning.
Each layer should have a defined purpose, owner, inspection or test requirement, and response if it is unavailable.