Specialized clothing or equipment, worn by an employee for protection against infectious materials (as defined by OSHA).

• A. Independent Variable
• B. Forensic Science
• C. Hypothesis
• D. Personal Protective Equipment

Answer: (D)

Specialized clothing or equipment worn to protect a worker from infectious materials is PPE. OSHA defines Personal Protective Equipment as gear such as gloves, gowns, masks, eye protection, and respirators that create a barrier between the employee and hazards. This directly describes the protective gear used to reduce exposure to infectious materials. The other terms refer to concepts outside workplace safety gear: an independent variable is something you deliberately change in an experiment, forensic science is a field applying science to legal cases, and a hypothesis is a testable statement about a relationship. In real-world safety, PPE is part of a broader protection plan that includes proper selection, use, training, and maintenance to keep workers safe.