29 CFR 1926.95: Criteria for personal protective equipment
The official text is on the eCFR. Below: how the section is organized, the paragraphs our CHST questions are built on, and free questions to try.
Quoted from the eCFR, current as of 2026-10-14; last amended 2025-01-13.
How 29 CFR 1926.95 is organized
- (a) Application1 paragraph
- (b) Employee-owned equipment1 paragraph
- (c) Design and selection3 paragraphs
- (d) Payment for protective equipment10 paragraphs
Paragraphs our practice questions cite most
Counted across the 3 live PassCited questions on this section: our bank, not the real exam.
“(b) Employee-owned equipment. Where employees provide their own protective equipment, the employer shall be responsible to assure its adequacy, including proper maintenance, and sanitation of such equipment.”
“(2) The employer is not required to pay for non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or steel-toe boots) and non-specialty prescription safety eyewear, provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job-site.”
“(5) The employer must pay for replacement PPE, except when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE.”
Free practice questions on 29 CFR 1926.95
Question 1
A carpenter on a framing crew brings his own safety glasses from home, and the foreman lets him wear them. During a weekly walk-through, the safety technician finds the lenses deeply scratched, the temple arm held on with tape, and sweat and residue caked on the nose pad. The carpenter says, "They're mine, so keeping them in shape is on me." What is the correct response under the standard?
Show answer and source
Answer: C. The employer remains responsible for ensuring the glasses are adequate, properly maintained, and sanitary, so the glasses must be corrected or replaced before work continues.
OSHA's construction personal protective equipment rule, 29 CFR 1926.95(b), makes the employer responsible for the adequacy, maintenance, and sanitation of protective equipment that employees bring themselves. The scratched, taped, dirty glasses must be corrected or replaced. Employee ownership does not shift this duty, the rule does not depend on who bought the equipment, and it puts no duty on the manufacturer.
Answer C rests on
29 CFR 1926.95(b)(opens ecfr.gov in a new tab)“Where employees provide their own protective equipment, the employer shall be responsible to assure its adequacy, including proper maintenance, and sanitation of such equipment.”
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A study aid, not legal advice or an official interpretation. Always check the current eCFR text.