Personal protective equipment, or PPE, only protects workers when they actually wear it correctly and consistently. That sounds obvious, yet it remains one of the toughest challenges in workplace safety. A new study suggests the problem has less to do with the equipment itself and more to do with the people expected to wear it.

The 2026 PPE Pain Points Study, released by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) and the J. J. Keller Center for Market Insights, is now in its fourth year. It examines how companies of all sizes manage their PPE programs and where those programs tend to break down. The picture is revealing: most organizations have a PPE program in place, but getting employees to use their gear properly and consistently is still a persistent struggle.

Here are the first three findings from the study, along with what they mean for your workplace.

1. Getting People to Wear PPE Remains the Hardest Part

Compliance ranked as the number one challenge in the study. In practical terms, compliance means workers wearing the correct protective gear, the right way, every single time they are supposed to. According to the research, more than two-thirds of organizations have trouble getting employees to consistently wear required PPE.

Consider what that statistic actually represents. A company can invest in the best hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, and respirators available, but none of it matters if a worker pushes their glasses up because they keep fogging, or skips gloves on a job that "will only take a second." Protection disappears in exactly those moments, and those are often the moments when injuries occur.

So why do people skip their gear? Rarely is it because they do not care about their own safety. More often, the equipment is uncomfortable, gets in the way, or slows them down. Sometimes the expectations are never explained clearly. And in many workplaces, no one intervenes when an employee goes without protection, so cutting corners gradually starts to feel normal.

The lesson is that purchasing PPE is only the first step, and arguably the easiest one. The far harder work is building consistent habits and a culture where wearing protection is simply what everyone does, automatically and without a second thought.

2. Comfort and Fit Matter More Than Many Employers Realize

When organizations decide which PPE to buy, comfort and durability now top the list of priorities. That shift makes sense. Gear that feels good and holds up over time is gear that workers are far more likely to keep on throughout a shift.

But a serious problem hides beneath those numbers. The study found that 17 percent of organizations still cannot find PPE that fits all of their workers properly. The gap is dramatically wider for women, with 38 percent of organizations reporting difficulty finding gear that fits female workers well.

This is a genuine safety concern, not merely a matter of comfort. PPE that does not fit correctly cannot protect correctly. Safety glasses that slide down the nose leave the eyes exposed. A harness or respirator designed around an average-sized man may not seal or sit properly on a smaller worker, leaving real gaps in protection. Worst of all, ill-fitting gear can give workers a false sense of security while quietly failing to do its job.

For decades, much of the PPE on the market was built around a "one size fits most" assumption. Today's workforce, however, is more diverse than ever. When more than a third of companies cannot find gear that fits their female employees, that is a clear signal the old approach no longer holds up. The takeaway is to examine whether your PPE genuinely fits every person required to wear it, not just the majority.

3. Workers Are Too Often Left Out of PPE Decisions

The third finding connects the first two. The study reports that employee involvement in selecting PPE remains limited. In many organizations, the people who choose and purchase the gear are not the same people who have to wear it for eight, ten, or twelve hours a day.

That disconnect is a missed opportunity. The research notes that when workers have a voice in PPE selection, comfort, acceptance, and consistent use all improve. Put differently, the very problems described above, both skipped gear and poor fit, tend to shrink when the people wearing the equipment help choose it.

The reason is straightforward. A worker on the floor understands things a purchasing manager may never notice. They know which gloves become slippery, which glasses fog under certain conditions, and which boots leave their feet aching by the end of a shift. Gathering that input before placing an order makes it far more likely that the gear will actually stay on.

Involving workers does not require an elaborate process, either. It can be as simple as letting a few employees test samples before a large purchase, or collecting honest feedback through a brief survey. The goal is to treat the people wearing the gear as participants in the decision rather than passive recipients of whatever happens to arrive.

What These Findings Mean Going Forward

Taken together, the three findings reveal a clear pattern. PPE programs rarely fail because a company forgot to buy equipment. They struggle because of the human side of safety: comfort, fit, and whether workers feel like they have a stake in the process.

The encouraging news is that all three of these problems are fixable. Prioritizing gear that fits everyone, asking workers what actually works for them, and making protection easier to wear can do more to improve compliance than another policy memo ever could.

If you are reviewing your own PPE program this year, start with a few honest questions: Do the people wearing this gear find it comfortable? Does it truly fit? And did anyone bother to ask them? Their answers may point directly to your biggest safety wins.

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