The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has filed a permanent rule making order (CR-103) that extends the allowance of voluntary personal protective equipment (PPE) use beyond public health emergencies.

The new rule will go into effect October 1, 2024 and grants employees the option to utilize additional PPE beyond what is required by the employer. While compliance with workplace hazard assessments to determine minimum PPE requirements remains mandatory, employees who choose to wear additional PPE must be accommodated as long as the usage of voluntary PPE does not introduce hazards to the work environment, interfere with an employer’s security requirements, or conflict of any DOSH standards. 

To comply with the rule, employers must ensure that the utilization of voluntary PPE is compliant with all regulatory requirements for workplace health and safety, however, employers will not be responsible for purchasing, maintaining or storing voluntary PPE.

The full text of the adopted rule changes are available on L&I’s website.