PPE: A Retrospective
Personal protective equipment is an acceptable and often required tool in many of today's workplaces, but this wasn't always so. The acceptance of PPE traveled down a long and perilous road that was paved with the toil and sacrifice of many workers. It was the original safety measure long before the existence of safety meetings, regulations, and standards.
Through trial and error, makeshift protective equipment slowly advanced into its current, and numerous, incarnations and, along the way, helped to contribute to a growing acceptance of the importance of worker health and safety.
In January 2007, the OH&S staff did a special section looking back at the last 75 years of worker health and safety. Within that section was a feature on the humble beginnings of PPE, accessible here.