PPE hazard assessment template for restaurants (OSHA 1910.132)

Every kitchen has hazards that gloves, goggles or the right shoes protect against: hot oil, oven racks, a knife, a slicer blade, oven cleaner, a wet floor. OSHA's general PPE standard asks every employer to look for those hazards on purpose, decide what protection each one needs, and sign a one-page certification that the look happened. Most small restaurants have the gloves and goggles; far fewer have the paper.

This post walks you through the assessment station by station, gives you the certification to sign, a PPE list by task, and the training record.

General information, not legal advice. Federal OSHA rules are quoted from the eCFR, current as of October 2026. If your state runs its own OSHA-approved State Plan, it "must be at least as effective as OSHA" and can be stricter; check with your state program.

What the rule asks for

Requirement	What it says	Section
Assess the workplace	"The employer shall assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present, or are likely to be present, which necessitate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)."	29 CFR 1910.132(d)(1)
Select, tell, fit	If hazards are present, select the PPE, have each affected employee use it, "Communicate selection decisions to each affected employee", and select PPE "that properly fits each affected employee."	1910.132(d)(1)(i)–(iii)
A written certification	The assessment is verified by "a written certification that identifies the workplace evaluated; the person certifying that the evaluation has been performed; the date(s) of the hazard assessment; and, which identifies the document as a certification of hazard assessment."	1910.132(d)(2)
No damaged PPE	"Defective or damaged personal protective equipment shall not be used."	1910.132(e)
Training	Each employee who must use PPE is trained on when it's needed, what's needed, how to put it on, take it off, adjust and wear it, its limits, and its care, useful life and disposal.	1910.132(f)(1)
Show they understand	Each employee demonstrates the understanding and the ability to use the PPE before doing work that needs it, and is retrained when things change or they clearly haven't retained it.	1910.132(f)(2)–(3)
Who pays	PPE is "provided by the employer at no cost to employees", with exceptions such as non-specialty safety-toe shoes and prescription safety glasses the employee may wear off the job, and "Everyday clothing, such as long-sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes, and normal work boots."	1910.132(h)
Eyes and face	Eye or face protection when exposed to "liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors" and other eye hazards.	1910.133(a)(1)
Hands	Hand protection where hands are exposed to "skin absorption of harmful substances; severe cuts or lacerations; severe abrasions; punctures; chemical burns; thermal burns; and harmful temperature extremes."	1910.138(a)
Feet	Protective footwear where there's danger from "falling or rolling objects, or objects piercing the sole", or an electrical hazard.	1910.136(a)
Eyewash	"Where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency use."	1910.151(c)

The assessment and training rules (paragraphs (d) and (f)) apply to eye and face (1910.133), head (1910.135), foot (1910.136) and hand (1910.138) protection, and personal fall protection (1910.140), under 1910.132(g).

How to do the walk-through

OSHA's own guide to the assessment, Appendix B to Subpart I (non-mandatory), says to "Conduct a walk-through survey of the areas in question" and look for these hazard categories: impact, penetration, compression (roll-over), chemical, heat, harmful dust and light radiation. It also says to review your injury records to find problem areas, and that PPE "should not be relied on to provide protection against hazards, but should be used in conjunction with guards, engineering controls, and sound manufacturing practices."

In a café or restaurant, the walk-through takes about an hour:

Walk every station during service, not at 7 am. Watch what people actually do: who drains the fryer, who uses the oven cleaner, who unloads the dish machine.
Read the Section 8 of every SDS (Exposure controls/personal protection) for the chemicals you use; it names the gloves and eye protection. Our chemical inventory and SDS binder index has a column for it.
Read your incident log for the last year: burns, cuts and chemical splashes show you where to look harder. See our incident report form.
Fill in the table below, one row per task.
Sign the certification.

The hazard assessment worksheet

Fill in one row per task. The examples in brackets are a starting point, not your answer: use what your SDSs and your walk-through show.

[Café / restaurant name] — PPE hazard assessment worksheet

Location: [address] · Assessed by: [name / role] · Date(s): [date]

Area / task	Hazard found	Category	Other controls first	PPE required
[Fryer: filtering and changing oil]	[Hot oil splash, thermal burns]	Heat	[Let oil cool per your fryer procedure; filter machine]	[Heat-resistant gloves, face shield, apron]
[Ovens and sheet pans]	[Contact burns]	Heat	[Pan grips, rack pullers]	[Oven mitts or heat-resistant gloves]
[Prep: knives, mandoline]	[Cuts]	Penetration	[Sharp knives, knife guards, cutting boards secured]	[Cut-resistant glove on the non-knife hand]
[Meat slicer: cleaning]	[Severe cuts]	Penetration	[Guard on, unplugged, dial at zero]	[Cut-resistant gloves]
[Oven and grill cleaner]	[Corrosive splash to eyes and skin]	Chemical	[Use as labeled; ventilation]	[Per SDS Section 8: chemical goggles, chemical-resistant gloves]
[Dish machine and chemicals: changing containers]	[Corrosive splash]	Chemical	[Closed dispensing system]	[Per SDS: goggles, chemical-resistant gloves]
[Walk-in freezer: long tasks]	[Cold]	Heat (cold)	[Limit time inside]	[Insulated gloves, jacket]
[Receiving and storage: cases, kegs]	[Dropped loads on feet]	Impact / compression	[Hand truck, shelves at the right height]	[Your footwear policy]
[All kitchen floors]	[Slips on wet and greasy floors]		[Mats, spill procedure, drains]	[Your footwear policy]
[Dish pit: hot water and steam]	[Scalds]	Heat	[Let the machine finish the cycle before opening]	[Your choice]

Eyewash: corrosive chemicals in use at [areas]? [Yes / No] · Eyewash provided at: [location]

The written certification

This is the page OSHA asks for. Keep it with the worksheet.

CERTIFICATION OF HAZARD ASSESSMENT

Workplace evaluated: [business name, address, areas covered]

Date(s) of the hazard assessment: [date(s)]

I certify that a workplace hazard assessment was performed at the workplace above, on the date(s) above, to determine whether hazards are present, or are likely to be present, that require the use of personal protective equipment, as required by 29 CFR 1910.132(d). The hazards found and the protective equipment selected are listed in the attached worksheet.

Name of the person certifying: ………………………… Title: ……………

Signature: ………………………… Date: ……………

Training record

One row per person, per type of PPE. 1910.132(f) needs more than a signature: each person shows they can use it before doing the job.

PPE training record

Employee	PPE	When it's needed and what's needed	Put on, take off, adjust	Limits	Care, life, disposal
[Name]	[Face shield and heat gloves, fryer]	✓	✓	✓	✓
[Name]	[Chemical goggles and gloves, oven cleaner]

Retrain when: the PPE changes, the job changes, or someone's clearly not using it right.

Keeping it current

Review it once a year, and whenever you add equipment, a new chemical or a new menu process (a fryer, a smoker, a new degreaser). Appendix B's last step is reassessing "as necessary, by identifying and evaluating new equipment and processes, reviewing accident records, and reevaluating the suitability of previously selected PPE."
Check the PPE itself. Torn heat gloves, a cracked face shield and cut gloves with holes come out of service the same day.
Fit matters. Stock sizes. A glove that's too big catches; goggles that don't seal don't protect.

Who pays: a few common cases

Item	Under 1910.132(h)
Cut-resistant gloves, heat-resistant gloves, face shields, chemical goggles and gloves	Employer provides, at no cost
Replacements	Employer pays, "except when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE"
Non-specialty safety-toe shoes, non-specialty prescription safety glasses worn off the job	Employer not required to pay
Everyday clothing, street shoes, normal work boots	Employer not required to pay

If you require a particular shoe, read the payment rule and its exceptions before deciding who pays, and put the answer in your handbook. Our uniform and dress code template has a place for it.

Where Mays fits

The worksheet and certification as a form. Build a PPE hazard assessment form under Tasks → Types: a Repeatable rows field with a row per task (area, hazard, controls, PPE), a Date / time field set to Date only, an Employee field for who certified it, and a Signature. Assign it to yourself as a one-off task on the web, or on a Custom template you start once a year. Submissions are in Tasks → Data with Export CSV. See Building custom forms and Task Data.
PPE stock. An Inventory Count task on a weekly checklist, with a Min Stock for each glove size, face shields and goggles, turns anything short into a Restock Order task for managers. See Inventory-count and restock tasks.
Damaged PPE and injuries, written down. Managers post in the Logbook under Health & Safety, with Needs follow-up for a replacement. See The manager logbook.
The rules where staff read them. Put the PPE list by task in a Knowledge Base folder shared with the kitchen. See Your knowledge base.

What Mays doesn't do: signatures and photos in a form aren't in Task Data or the CSV export, so print and keep the signed certification too. There's no yearly frequency for a checklist, so put the assessment on a Custom template and start it from Create Task → From Template when your calendar says it's due. The demonstration in the training record is done in person.

One hour, one page

Walk the kitchen during service, write down the hazards and the PPE for each, sign the certification, and train each person until they can show you. Most of the protection is already in your kitchen; the assessment makes sure it's the right protection, on the right people.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll build your assessment form and PPE stock count with you.